OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL COORDINATOR

FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES OFCM AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

FCM-P1-2012

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Federal Plan

for Meteorological Services

and Supporting Research

Fiscal Year 2013
THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH (ICMSSR) 

MR. SAMUEL P. WILLIAMSON, Chairman 

Federal Coordinator 

MR. MARK BRUSBERG 

Department of Agriculture 

MS. LAURA FURGIONE (ACTING) 

Department of Commerce 

MR. ROBERT WINOKUR 

United States Navy 

Department of Defense 

DR. FRED P. LEWIS 

United States Air Force 

Department of Defense 

MR. RICKEY PETTY 

Department of Energy 

MR. JOEL WALL 

Science and Technology Directorate 

Department of Homeland Security 

MR. JOHN VIMONT 

Department of the Interior 

MR. MARK KEHRLI 

Federal Highway Administration 

Department of Transportation 

 MR. PAUL FONTAINE 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Department of Transportation 

DR. JONATHAN M. BERKSON 

United States Coast Guard 

Department of Homeland Security 

DR. DAVID R. REIDMILLER 

Department of State 

DR. ROHIT MATHUR 

Environmental Protection Agency 

MR. PATRICK HERNANDEZ 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

Department of Homeland Security 

DR. RAMESH KAKAR 

National Aeronautics and Space 

 Administration 

DR. MICHAEL MORGAN 

National Science Foundation 

MR. DONALD E. EICK 

National Transportation Safety Board

MR. SCOTT FLANDERS 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

COL GARY KUBAT, Secretariat 

Office of the Federal Coordinator for 

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research 
The Federal Plan for 

Meteorological 

Services and 

Supporting Research 

FISCAL YEAR 2013 

FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1500 Silver Spring, MD 20910 

 301-427-2002 

FCM-P1-2012 Lead Editor Mr. Anthony Ramirez

October 2012 Assistant: Ms. Erin McNamara

WASHINGTON, D.C. Assistant: Mr. Kenneth Barnett

 

iii 

PREFACE 

Since 1965, the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research (OFCM) has compiled an annual Federal Plan that articulates the provision of 

meteorological services and the support for meteorological and related research by agencies of 

the Federal government. The Federal Plan provides Congress and the Executive Branch with a 

comprehensive account of proposed programs for the coming fiscal year (FY) and a review of 

agency programs in the current fiscal year. The Federal Plan's budget information and program 

narratives are current as of November 2012. 

The FY 2013 Federal Plan uses the structure first introduced in the FY 2011 Plan. Section 1 

summarizes the resources appropriated by Congress for FY 2012 and the resources requested in 

the President's FY 2013 Budget. Please note that actual FY 2012 funding under continuing 

resolutions or the eventual final appropriation is not described in Section 1. The budget narrative 

is organized by agency, and tables 4 and 5 provide a breakdown by major service category for 

the purposes of cross-agency coordination and cooperation. Section 2 contains narratives, by 

service category, describing agency operations and programs for providing meteorological 

services and supporting research and development. This organization by service category, rather 

than by department or agency, more closely follows the original intent when an annual plan was 

first requested by Congress and the Executive Office of the President in 1963. The introductory 

segment of Section 2 describes the formal Federal coordination and planning process overseen 

by the OFCM. This segment replaces and expands on the appendix describing OFCM activities 

that were included in recent Federal Plans prior to FY 2011. A comprehensive list of acronyms 

used in Sections 1 and 2 is included as the current Appendix A. 

Over the last several years, there has been a marked increase in the operational program and 

supporting research information included in the narratives submitted by the agencies. This has 

certainly made the Federal Plan even more comprehensive, informative, and useful. My thanks to 

our agency partners and their staffs for their dedicated and outstanding efforts which have 

significantly contributed to this vitally important document. 

 //SIGNED// 

 Samuel P. Williamson 

 Federal Coordinator for Meteorological 

 Services and Supporting Research 
iv 
v 

Table of Contents 

PREFACE.............................................................................................................iii 

SECTION 1 AGENCY FUNDING FOR METEOROLOGICAL OPERATION AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH .................................................................................................................. 1-1 

AGENCY BUDGET SUMMARIES..............................................................................1-1 

 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE........................................................................1-1 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/NATIONAL OCEANIC AND AMOSPHERIC 

ADMINISTRATION .......................................................................................................................... 1-2 

 National Weather Service ............................................................................................................. 1-2 

 National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services .............................................. 1-4 

 Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research .............................................................................. 1-5 

 National Ocean Service ................................................................................................................. 1-6 

 Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ................................................................................... 1-6 

 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE .......................................................................................................... 1-6 

 U.S. Air Force/Air Force Weather Agency ................................................................................... 1-6 

 U.S. Navy ...................................................................................................................................... 1-8 

 U.S. Army ................................................................................................................................... 1-11 

 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY .............................................................................. 1-13 

 United States Coast Guard .......................................................................................................... 1-13 

 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR .............................................................................................. 1-14

 Bureau of Land Management ...................................................................................................... 1-14 

 National Park Service ................................................................................................................. 1-14 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................... 1-15 

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ..................................................................................... 1-15 

 Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................................ 1-15 

 Federal Highway Administration ................................................................................................ 1-15 

 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ............................................................................. 1-16 

 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) ................................ 1-16 

 NUCLEAR REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION (NRC) ............................................................. 1-18 

BUDGET TABLES 

 Table 1 Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research Costs* by Agency ..................... 1-19 

Table 2 Operational Costs by Budget Category .......................................................................... 1-20 

Table 3 Supporting Research and Development Costs by Budget Category .............................. 1-21 

Table 4 Operational Costs by Service Category ......................................................................... 1-23 

Table 5 Support Research and Development Costs by Service Category................................... 1-23 

Table 6 Personnel Engaged in Meteorological Operations ......................................................... 1-24 

Table 7 Interagency Fund Transfers ........................................................................................... 1-25 

Table 8 Facilities/Locations for Taking Meteorological Observations ....................................... 1-26 
vi 

SECTION 2: FEDERAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

PROGRAMS ......................................................................................................................................... 2-1 

FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERICES AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH .................................................................................................................. 2-3 

STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE FEDERAL COORDINATION PROCESS ................................... 2-3 

 OFCM COORDINATING INFRASTRUCTURE .............................................................................. 2-4 

 OFCM HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012 AND PLANS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 ......... 2-6 

 Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act 2012 ............ 2-6 

 National Earth Observations Assessment ..................................................................................... 2-7 

 National Aviation Weather Program Council ............................................................................... 2-7

 National Operational Processing Centers Program Council ......................................................... 2-8 

 Committee for Operational Processing Centers ............................................................................ 2-9

 National Space Weather Program Council ................................................................................... 2-9 

 Executive Council for Multifunction Phased Array Radar ......................................................... 2-10 

 Crosscutting Activities under the ICMSSR ................................................................................ 2-11 

 Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and Research and Interdepartmental 

 Hurricane Conference .................................................................................................... 2-11 

 Committee on Environmental Services, Operations, and Research Needs ................................. 2-12 

 Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water Data ............................... 2-12 

 Urban Meteorology and Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion R&D .......................... 2-13 

 Committee for Integrated Observing Systems ............................................................................ 2-14 

 Unmanned Aerial Systems ............................................................................................. 2-14 

 Committee on Cooperative Research .......................................................................................... 2-15 

 Tropical Cyclone Research ............................................................................................ 2-15 

 Weather Information for Surface Transportation .......................................................... 2-16 

 Committee on Environmental Information Systems and Communications ................................ 2-16 

 Meteorological Codes .................................................................................................... 2-16 

 OFCM External Collaborations .................................................................................................. 2-16 

 NAS/NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate ............................................. 2-16 

 Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability ............................. 2-16 

 American Meteorological Society ................................................................................. 2-17 

 FY 2012 OFCM PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................... 2-17 

BASIC SERVICES ................................................................................................................................ 2-19 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ............................. 2-19 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................... 2-19 

 NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service ................................. 2-21 

 NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ..................................................................... 2-25 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Basic Meteorological Services ...................... 2-26 

 Federal Aviation Administration Contributions to Basic Services ............................................. 2-27 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ........................................................ 2-27 

 Interagency Research Programs .................................................................................................. 2-27 

 NOAA/NWS Research Programs and Projects .......................................................................... 2-30 
vii 

 NOAA/NESDIS .......................................................................................................................... 2-31 

 NOAA/OAR Laboratories .......................................................................................................... 2-33 

 NASA Supporting Research for Basic Meteorological Services ................................................ 2-45 

 National Science Foundation ...................................................................................................... 2-46 

AGRICULTURAL AND LAND MANAGEMENT METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES .............. 2-47 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ............................. 2-47 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture .................................................................................................. 2-47 

 Department of Interior ................................................................................................................ 2-51 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ........................................................ 2-52 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture .................................................................................................. 2-52 

AVIATION SERVICES ........................................................................................................................ 2-55 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ............................. 2-55 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................... 2-55 

 Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................................ 2-57 

 National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for Aviation ................................................................. 2-66 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ........................................................ 2-69 

 The National Airspace System of the Future .............................................................................. 2-69 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................... 2-73 

 NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................................... 2-74 

Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................................ 2-77 

CLIMATE SERVICES ......................................................................................................................... 2-85 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ............................. 2-85 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................... 2-85 

 NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center ........................................................................ 2-86 

 NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ..................................................................... 2-92 

 United States Air Force ............................................................................................................... 2-93 

 United States Navy ..................................................................................................................... 2-94 

 United States Geological Survey ................................................................................................ 2-94 

 Department of State .................................................................................................................... 2-95 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ........................................................ 2-96 

 NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center ........................................................................ 2-96 

 NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................................. 2-100 

 NOAA/OAR Air Resources Laboratory ................................................................................... 2-101 

 NOAA/OAR/Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory ................................... 2-101 

 NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory ..................................................................... 2-102 

 NOAA/OAR/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory ........................................................... 2-103 

 NOAA/OAR/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory ......................................................... 2-105 

 Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture ................................... 2-105 

 United States Geological Survey ............................................................................................. 2-106 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................................... 2-108 

 Department of Energy/Office of Science .................................................................................. 2-115 
viii 

 National Science Foundation .................................................................................................... 2-119 

EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND HOMELAND SECURITY SERVICES .................................. 2-121 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-121 

 Federal Emergency Management Agency ................................................................................ 2-121 

 Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center ................................................... 2-122 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................. 2-123 

 NOAA/National Ocean Service ................................................................................................ 2-124 

 NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ................................................................... 2-124 

 United States Air Force ............................................................................................................. 2-124 

 United States Navy ................................................................................................................... 2-125 

 U.S. Marine Corps .................................................................................................................... 2-126 

 Department of Energy ............................................................................................................... 2-126 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission .............................................................................................. 2-128 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................. 2-128 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-129 

 NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research/Air Resources Laboratory .................. 2-129 

 Department of Energy ............................................................................................................... 2-131 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission .............................................................................................. 2-131 

HYDROMETEOROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES SERVICES ........................................ 2-133 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-133 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................. 2-133 

 NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ................................................................... 2-136 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture ................................................................................................ 2-136 

 U.S Army Corps of Engineers .................................................................................................. 2-138 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................. 2-138 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-139 

 NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................................. 2-139 

 Department of Agriculture ........................................................................................................ 2-140 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission .............................................................................................. 2-140 

MILITARY SERVICES ...................................................................................................................... 2-141 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-141 

 U.S. Air Force ........................................................................................................................... 2-141 

 U.S. Army ................................................................................................................................. 2-148 

 U.S. Navy .................................................................................................................................. 2-152 

 U.S. Marine Corps .................................................................................................................... 2-161 

 U.S. Coast Guard ...................................................................................................................... 2-164 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-164 

 National Unified Operational Prediction Capability Research Partnering Initiative ................ 2-164 

 U.S. Air Force Supporting Research Programs and Projects .................................................... 2-165 

 U.S. Army Supporting Research Programs and Projects .......................................................... 2-167 

 U.S. Navy Supporting Research Programs and Projects........................................................... 2-172 
ix 

 

SPACE WEATHER SERVICES ........................................................................................................ 2-173

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-173 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................. 2-173 

 U.S. Air Force ........................................................................................................................... 2-174 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................. 2-176 

 Federal Emergency Management Agency ................................................................................ 2-177 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-177 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................. 2-178 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................. 2-178 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................................... 2-178 

 Department of Energy ............................................................................................................... 2-179 

 National Science Foundation .................................................................................................... 2-180 

 U.S. Air Force ........................................................................................................................... 2-180 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES ................................................................................. 2-183 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-183 

 NOAA/National Weather Service ............................................................................................. 2-183 

 U.S. Coast Guard ...................................................................................................................... 2-186 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-185 

 Federal Highway Administration .............................................................................................. 2-187 

 Federal Railroad Administration ............................................................................................... 2-190 

 NOS Marine Transportation Research ...................................................................................... 2-191 

WILDLAND FIRE WEATHER SERVICES .................................................................................... 2-193 

 OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-193 

 Fire Weather Services in the National Coordination Structure for Wildland Fire 

 Management .............................................................................................................................. 2-193 

 National Weather Service ......................................................................................................... 2-195 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture ................................................................................................ 2-196 

 U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................................. 2-197 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-198 

 U.S. Department of Agriculture ................................................................................................ 2-198 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................................... 2-199 

OTHER SPECIALIZED SERVICES ................................................................................................ 2-201 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ........................... 2-201 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................................... 2-201 

 U.S. Air Force Space Launch Support ...................................................................................... 2-204 

 U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command ................................................................... 2-205 

 National Park Service/Fish and Wildfire Service ..................................................................... 2-206 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission .............................................................................................. 2-206 

 SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS ...................................................... 2-208 

 U.S. Army ................................................................................................................................. 2-208 
x 

 National Park Service ............................................................................................................... 2-208 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................................... 2-209 

 Environmental Protection Agency ............................................................................................ 2-211 

APPENDIX A - ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... A-1 

 
SECTION 1 

AGENCY FUNDING FOR METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS 

AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

AGENCY BUDGET SUMMARIES 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) budget request for FY 2013 is $62.1 million for operations 

and supporting research, down 4 percent from the FY 2012 funding level. The decrease in funding is 

mainly for research programs, with only a slight increase in funding requested for meteorological 

operations. USDA has requested $43.1 million for research and development programs, a $2.9 million 

decrease from 2012. Most of the funding decrease is for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

(NIFA), due to the completion of some integrated mandatory programs and elimination of other 

research programs with a weather and climate component. NIFA funding supports research projects 

that collect, analyze, and utilize short and long-term weather and climate data as a base of information 

for the projection and prediction of climatic trends related to environmental impacts on agroecosystems, forests, and rangelands and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies for 

natural resources and production management. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the 

USDA’s principal in-house scientific research agency. ARS conducts research on how annual 

variation in weather adversely effects crop and animal production, hydrologic processes, the 

availability of water from watersheds, and the environmental and economic sustainability of 

agricultural enterprises. The research and development mission of the Forest Service is to develop and 

deliver knowledge and innovative technology to improve the health and use of the Nation’s forests and 

grasslands. Research at the Forest Service includes studies of the long-term effects of air pollution on 

forests and water resources. The Forest Service is also the world leader in developing emissions 

factors from fires and modeling its dispersion. 

The FY 2013 amount requested for meteorological operations is $19.0 million, slightly up from the 

$18.9 million funding level in FY 2012. Operational activities include specialized weather observing 

RESOURCE INFORMATION AND AGENCY PROGRAM UPDATES 

The narratives and tables in this section summarize the budgetary information for the Federal 

government for fiscal years (FY) 2012 and 2013. The funds shown are used to provide meteorological 

services and associated supporting research with service improvements as their immediate objectives. 

Fiscal data are current as of the end of September 2012 and are subject to later changes. The data for 

FY 2013 do not have legislative approval and do not constitute a commitment by the United States 

Government. The budget data are prepared in compliance with Section 304 of Public Law 87-843, in 

which Congress directed that an annual horizontal budget be prepared for meteorological programs 

conducted by the Federal agencies. 

1-1
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

networks such as the SNOTEL (SNOw pack TELemetry) network operated by the Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting program (SSWSF) and the 

Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) network managed by the Forest Service. The SNOTEL 

and RAWS networks provide cooperative data for NOAA’s river forecast activities, irrigation water 

supply estimates, and Bureau of Land Management operations. The SSWSF program, managed by the 

NRCS National Water and Climate Center, provides western states and Alaska with information on 

future water supplies. The Forest Service uses meteorological data and interpretation skills data for 

decision making regarding wildland fire management. The World Agricultural Outlook Board 

(WAOB) operates the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF), a global agricultural weather and 

information center located in Washington, D.C. JAWF agricultural meteorologists operationally 

monitor global weather conditions and assess the impacts of growing season weather on crop and 

livestock production prospects. JAWF is actively involved in drought monitoring efforts in concert 

with the National Drought Mitigation Center. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 

The Department of Commerce (DOC) submitted a realignment plan subsequent to the submission of 

the FY 2013 President’s Budget Request to Congress. This realignment of funding, referred to as the 

FY 2013 President’s Budget with Reallocation, is a net zero sum gain to reallocate funds for costs 

associated with critical weather forecasting activities. These changes adhere to the guiding principle to 

protect life and property by sustaining warning and forecast capabilities of the NWS and, where 

necessary, delay future improvements to services. All Department activities and funding reported here 

reflect the NOAA FY 2013 reallocation of funds. 

National Weather Service 

The National Weather Service (NWS) funding request for the FY 2013 President’s Budget totals 

$976.4 million and 4,544 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Significant requested increases and 

decreases in funding over the FY 2012 program include the following:

 Ground Readiness Project. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

requests an increase of $9.4 million to ensure utilization of the substantial increase in 

environmental satellite observations that will help to improve weather warnings and forecasts. 

This investment will increase NWS information technology infrastructure capacity to ensure 

processing of the three-fold data volume increase expected from satellite and radar 

observations, and advanced weather prediction models coming online from FY 2013-2017, 

improving weather warnings and forecasts accuracy. 

 NWS Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG) Legacy Replacement. NOAA requests an 

increase of $7.0 million to design and implement a re-architected NWSTG and it’s backup to 

accommodate future data volumes driven by increased climate and satellite observations and 

other requirements, and to maintain system reliability. This investment will allow the NWS to 

transform the Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG) and its backup into a modern, scalable, 

extensible, and reliable system. The NWSTG is a hub for collection and transmission of 

hydrometeorological observations and products for NOAA’s customers. 

1-2
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

 Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array. NOAA requests an increase of $2.4 million to 

support operations and maintenance (O&M), and technology refresh costs associated with the 

TAO buoys, to achieve an 80% data availability standard. TAO network data directly 

contributes to the accurate prediction of El Niño and La Niña climate events and enables 

mitigation of impacts. 

 Regional Information Technology (IT) Collaboration Units. NOAA requests a decrease of 98 

FTE and $9.7 million to reflect the transition to a new IT service delivery model to the NWS 

forecast offices. This decrease will create regional information technology collaboration teams 

enabling higher consistency of service delivery with minimal impacts to NWS’ mission. NWS 

will downsize the current 122 IT Officers to 24 regional collaboration units. NWS has the 

ability to fulfill much of the ITO responsibilities remotely. 

 Strengthen U.S. Tsunami Warning Network. NOAA requests a decrease of $4.5 million to 

terminate NOAA’s partner funding for education and awareness programs to the National 

Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) within the Strengthen U.S. Tsunami Warning 

Program (SUSTWP) and reduces funding for maintenance of the Deep-ocean Assessment and 

Reporting Tsunamis buoy network. NOAA will continue to educate the public about tsunamis 

through the TsunamiReady program. Timely issuance of tsunami warnings will continue, but 

warnings may extend to a larger area and for a longer time. 

 NOAA Profiler Network and Conversion (NPN). NOAA requests a decrease of $.1 million in 

its NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) Program to terminate its NPN array except operations and 

maintenance support of three profilers located in Alaska. Three profilers located in Alaska will 

provide information critical for specialized aviation and volcanic ash forecasts. The increasing 

cost of modernizing profilers requires NOAA to terminate the broadcast frequency conversion 

and technology refreshment and discontinue operation of the other 32 profilers. 

 Air Quality Forecasting. NOAA requests a decrease of $3.1 million to discontinue the 

National Air Quality Forecasting Capability (NAQFC) which is used by the Environmental 

Protection Agency and state and local agencies to provide public air quality health alerts. 

Remaining funding will sustain on-demand dispersion forecasts of volcanic ash, transport of 

smoke, and forecast of emergency releases, supporting aviation affected by volcanic activity. 

 Labor and Operations. NOAA requests an increase of $17.1 million to fully fund labor costs 

required in FY 2013. This increase protects NOAA’s life and property mission by sustaining 

forecast and warning capabilities.

 NOAA Weather Radio. NOAA requests a decrease of $1.5 for deferment of improvements to 

current NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) services. This decrease will defer replacement of 

analog transmitters with digital versions.

 Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS). NOAA requests a decrease of 

$2.4 million resulting in an extension of the AWIPS technology infusion program schedule. 

AWIPS communications infrastructure enables NWS forecasters to effectively use technology 

investments such as observing systems data and models along with decision assistance tools to 

develop and deliver weather warnings and forecasts. NWS will continue to focus on the highest 

priority projects including enabling remote access to AWIPS products by incident 

meteorologists who support state and local emergency managers. 

1-3
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services 

NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services (NESDIS) requests a net 

increase of $162.361 million for a total of $2.040 billion and 818 FTEs for the FY 2013. 

NESDIS is responsible for managing all aspects of remotely gathered environmental data. This 

includes procurement, launch, operation, product development, and product distribution of the 

Nation’s civil operational environmental satellites and corresponding data. In addition, NESDIS 

manages the NOAA environmental data collections, provides assessments that describe climate, and 

disseminates data and information to meet the needs of users in commerce, industry, agriculture, 

science, and engineering, as well as Federal, state, and local governments. 

The Systems Acquisition sub-activity includes the following budget line items for FY 2013: 

 Polar Operational Environmental Satellite Systems (POES) NOAA Polar K-N’ (Base Funding: 

22 FTEs and $32.241 million). NOAA requests no change from the FY13 Base Funding for a 

total of $32.241 million and 22 FTEs for the continuation of the POES program, and continued 

support for the MetOp program. The revised funding requirement represents recently identified 

savings as a result of the successful launch of the last POES satellite, NOAA-19, in February 

2009. 

 Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) (Base Funding: 61 FTEs and $949.894 million). NOAA 

requests a decrease of 33.5 million and 0 FTE for a total of $916.364 million and 61 FTEs to 

continue development of JPSS instruments, the ground systems, and the spacecraft for the 

afternoon orbit for the JPSS program. The JPSS program continues a number of management 

and acquisition reforms initiated in FY 2010 to deliver polar observations necessary to meet 

both the civil and military needs for weather and climate information. To implement the 

restructured JPSS program as directed by Executive Office of the President in February 2010, 

NOAA will oversee program management while NASA will provide technical management as 

the acquisition agent. NOAA and NASA will share the mission success responsibility. Mission 

success includes building all instruments, launching the spacecraft, algorithm development, 

ground systems development, and all other program-related activities that are essential to the 

success of the JPSS program. 

 In FY 2013, JPSS Program also includes the funding for Restoration of Climate Sensors 

previously funded separately in earlier budget years. Restoration of Climate Sensors continues 

the development of Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Flight Model 6 (CERES 

FM-6) and the Total Solar and Spectral Irradiance Sensor (TSIS). Specifically, funds support 

the continued development of CERES FM-6 and TSIS instruments. The sensors under 

development are based on the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) heritage designs to 

maintain the data continuity started by EOS that is required to accurately assess long-term 

changes in the Earth’s climate. NASA will be NOAA’s acquisition agent in procuring the 

Climate Sensors and will hold the contracts with vendors, under an Interagency Agreement. 

NOAA, however, will retain overall program management responsibility. 

 Jason-3 (Base Funding: 0 FTEs and $19.700 million). NOAA requests an increase of $10.3 

million for a total of $30.0 million to provide continuity of precise measurement of sea-surface 

1-4
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

heights for applications in ocean climatology and ocean weather. Jason-type satellite altimetry 

is the only proven technique for monitoring global sea-level rise—a key indicator of climate 

change. Jason-2 continues the systematic collection of sea-level observations initiated by 

TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. The Jason-3 satellite will be functionally equivalent to the Jason-2 

satellite. 

 GOES-N (Base Funding: 20 FTEs and $32.467 million). NOAA requests a decrease of $2.567 

million for a total of $29.900 million for the GOES-N Series program. The funding decrease realigns the GOES-N Series total program to support handover of GOES-15 from NASA to 

NOAA and provides technical management, maintenance, and operations of the on-orbit assets. 

 GOES-R (Base Funding: 46 FTEs and $615.622 million). NOAA requests an increase of 

$186.378 million for a total of $802.0 million to provide continued satellite engineering 

development and production activities for the GOES-R Series (GOES-R, -S, -T, & U) program 

that are necessary to meet a Q1 FY2016 launch readiness date (LRD). 

 Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) (Base Funding: 0 FTE and $29.800). NOAA 

requests a decrease of $6.917 million in FY 2013 to continue the refurbishment of DSCOVR, 

which will provide solar wind data for geomagnetic storm warnings. 

 FY 2013 funds will support the continued refurbishment of an existing NASA Satellite, 

DSCOVR, by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This program is in partnership 

with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), which will provide the launch vehicle and services. The 

lifecycle cost of $85 million will provide for the development and operation of systems for 

solar wind data processing and distribution, calibration and validation, and data archiving. 

After launch, NOAA will be responsible for command and control of the satellite, as well as 

timely processing and distribution of the solar wind data for geomagnetic storm warnings. 

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) request for funding related to meteorological 

supporting research in the FY 2013 President’s Budget totals $120 million and 459 full-time equivalent 

(FTE) employees. 

Requested FY 2013 funding for Weather and Air Chemistry Research (W&ACR), including 

Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes and Weather and Air Chemistry Research Programs is $67.0 

million. This amount represents a net decrease of $0.7 million or 1% percent from the FY 2012 spend 

plan. Decreases of $0.7 million would be spread across the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program, 

Cooperative Institutes, and U.S. Weather Research Program. OAR’s Weather and Air Chemistry 

Research supports R&D that provides the Nation with more accurate and timely warnings and 

forecasts of high impact weather events and their broader impact on issues of societal concern such as 

weather and air quality; and supports research that provides the scientific basis for informed 

management decisions about weather, water, and air quality. 

Requested FY 2013 funding for Climate Labs and Cooperative Institutes is $53.4 million. This amount 

represents a net increase of $ 1.3 million or 2.5% from the FY 2012 spend plan. Increases of $1.3 

million consist of funds to partially cover inflationary cost increases within base programs ($1.1 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

million) and to continue research activities within its Laboratories and Cooperative institutes for 

monitoring and understanding the Earth's climate system and to predict both the potential long-term 

changes in global climate as well as shorter-term climate variations that are of societal and economic 

importance ($0.2 million). 

National Ocean Service 

$29.0M provided through the FY 2013 budget will allow for continued operation of the National Water 

Level Observation Network (NWLON), expansion of the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System 

(PORTS®) program, improvement of the data quality control program known as the Continuous 

Operational Real-time Monitoring System (CORMS AI), and ongoing operation of the Ocean Systems 

Test and Evaluation Program (OSTEP), which is a development program for bringing new sensor 

technology into operations. Both the NWLON and PORTS® programs have subsets of operational 

water level stations with meteorological sensors installed for various partners and users, including the 

NWS. 

The NWLON has traditionally been an oceanographic observing system; however, NWLON 

technology allows multiple other sensors to be added, including meteorological sensors such as wind 

speed/direction/gusts, air temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure. In 2011, National 

Ocean Service (NOS) added visibility as another sensor option for PORTS®. At this time the only 

operational NOS visibility sensors are in Mobile Bay, AL. These observations provide a significant 

data source for improving and verifying marine weather forecasts and warnings. NOS has upgraded 

and enhanced the majority of its NWLON stations with new meteorological sensors. Actual 

verification data for special marine warnings (WFO Sterling) shows a 10% increase in the probability 

of detection and a ten minute increase in warning lead times, due in part to an increase in marine 

observations. Navigation data users require a complete picture of their operating environment to make 

the best safety and efficiency decisions, and local meteorological data is a part of that picture. 

Optimization of existing observing infrastructure is a cost-effective alternative to establishing new 

platforms. The additional meteorological data improves the accuracy of NWS forecasts of storm surge, 

marine wind speed, and marine wave heights for use by both the marine navigation and coastal 

communities when extreme weather events occur. The real-time information can be used by 

emergency responders to make sound decisions based upon which coastal areas are flooding, which 

evacuation routes are still viable, and other situations requiring a good understanding of the current 

state of the physical environment. 

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) supports meteorological activities by 

collection of related data from ships and aircraft. The FY 2013 Reallocation President’s Budget request 

of $29.741 million represents a 4.6 percent increase from the FY 2012 appropriation and maintains 

OMAO’s ship and aircraft support of meteorological data collection. 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

U.S. Air Force/Air Force Weather Agency 

U.S. Air Force (USAF) resources for meteorological support fall into two primary categories: general 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

operations and investment and research. The total Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) weather 

operations and research funding requested for FY 2013 is $136.5 million. Additionally, the USAF 

provides resources for space-based environmental monitoring development and operations managed by 

Air Force Space Command, including the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), the 

Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS), and the Space Situational Awareness Environmental 

Monitoring (SSAEM). 

Operations 

The operations support portion of AFWA’s FY 2013 budget is $107.4 million and funds day-to-day 

environmental support to the Department of Defense, the Active and Reserve Components of the Air 

Force and Army, ten unified commands, and other agencies as directed by the Chief of Staff of the Air 

Force. AFWA employs over 1,157 military and civilian personnel to conduct these activities at more 

than 23 locations worldwide. Approximately 85 percent of personnel specialize in weather; the 

remainder includes communications, computer, information technology, program management, 

program analysis, administrative, and logistics specialists. 

Supporting Research 

The total AFWA budget for meteorological-related research during FY 2013 is $29.0 million. As part 

of AF Smart Operations 21st Century (AFSO21), Air Force Weather (AFW) is investing in 

modernized environmental prediction technologies and global information grid technologies that 

enhance automation and save resources. In addition, AFW is investing in the following efforts in FY 

2013 and beyond: 

 Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET). JET will eliminate redundancies and inefficiencies in 

current systems by extending, consolidating, and/or replacing the Operational Weather 

Squadron (OWS) Production System-Phase II (OPS II), the New-Tactical Forecast System (NTFS), and the weather effects decision aids portion of the Integrated Meteorological System 

(IMETS). JET also provides software components for the Defense Common Ground System – 

Army (DCGS-A). 

 Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. WRF advances, as well as WRF-Chem

(taking into account chemical constituents), such as with the Land Information System (LIS—a 

collaborative effort with NASA) and WRF coupling, will improve forecasting performance in 

the low levels of the atmosphere. This will allow AFW forces to provide better battlespace 

characterization for missions that include, but not limited to, low-level aircraft operations, the 

dispersion of aerosol contaminants, and the employment of precision-guided munitions. It also 

allows for assessment of trafficability for ground forces. 

 Modernizing space weather capabilities. Collaboration with U.S. and Allied government and 

civilian agencies, along with ground-based sensing modernization, will result in a robust 

sensing capability for space weather. 

 Cloud Depiction and Forecasting System (CDFS) II improvements. Improving CDFS 

techniques by increasing the resolution, integrating available satellite (to include nontraditional METSAT) into the cloud analysis, using a new cloud interpretation and assimilation 

1-7
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

schema, incorporating cloud optical properties, and blending numerical weather prediction with 

forecast cloud advection techniques will ensure the AF continues as a center of excellence in 

cloud analysis and forecasting. MARK IVB data integration into cloud models will be 

expanded. 

 Tactical Decision Aids (TDA). TDAs provide warfighters an automated way to “visualize” 

environmental impacts on operations. These tools continue to be integrated into AF and joint 

service command and control (C2) systems (e.g., mission planning systems) including Target 

Acquisition Weapons Software (TAWS), Infrared Target Scene Simulation (IRTSS), and TriService Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (T-IWEDA). 

 Weather Data Analysis (WDA). WDA will provide many of the behind-the-scene tools at the 

weather production centers necessary for processing NPOESS Preparatory Project sensor and 

environmental data for AF and Navy exploitation for military operations and enabling JET to 

provide decision-quality products and information to warfighters. 

 Air Force Weather Ensemble Prediction Suite (AFWEPS). AFWEPS output, at both the 

mesoscale and global scale, will provide better meteorological intelligence for the warfighter 

by objectively quantifying the forecast certainty of mission-impacting meteorological 

parameters to optimize operational risk management for all echelons of decision making. It 

will provide probabilistic algorithms for high-impact variables and to quantify biases, enabling 

concise, focused products. 

The goals of these efforts are to provide accurate, relevant, and timely meteorological intelligence to 

warfighters at all levels of operations quicker and more consistently than ever before, within the 

decision cycle and in a manner that facilitates exploitation of the current and forecasted environmental 

conditions. 

While these all work synergistically to provide warfighters a quantum leap in capability, JET is the 

most visible piece to decision makers. JET will exploit data contained in the Virtual Joint 

Meteorological Oceanographic (METOC) Database via common-user communications, integrate with 

joint and coalition command and control and mission planning systems, and provide the machine-tomachine data exchange for assimilating METOC and C4ISR data to meet operational and tactical 

mission planning and execution requirements. 

U.S. Navy 

The U.S. Navy (USN) FY 2012 budget allocation for meteorological programs was $79.3 million; 

made up of $69.8 million for operations and $9.5 million to support enabling research. These numbers 

increase in FY 2013 to $84.5 M, $74.7 M, and $9.88 M respectively. 

Naval Oceanography Program 

The Chief of Naval Operations, through the Oceanographer of the Navy, sponsors operational Navy 

METOC services and related research and development. In 2012, the Oceanographer of the Navy 

acquired responsibility for funding the Navy’s meteorology and oceanography Operations & 

Maintenance (O&M, N) funding from the Chief of Naval Operations (N43). 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

The Navy provides meteorological services for Navy and joint forces, meteorological products to the 

Marine Corps, and oceanographic support to all elements of the Department of Defense, as well as to 

allied and coalition partners. The Navy sponsors programs in five closely related disciplines: 

meteorology, oceanography, space, maritime domain awareness, and positioning, navigation, and 

timing (PNT). All are used to protect ships, aircraft, fighting personnel, other platforms (manned and 

unmanned), and shore establishments from adverse ocean and weather conditions, and to provide a 

decisive tactical or strategic edge by exploiting the physical environment to optimize the performance 

and efficiency of platforms, sensors, and weapons. The Oceanographer of the Navy is also the Director 

of Oceanography, Space, and Maritime Domain Awareness for the Navy. Naval METOC personnel 

(Navy and Marine Corps) are required to provide intelligence preparation of the operational 

environment (IPOE) for decision makers by assessing the impact of atmospheric and ocean phenomena 

on platforms, sensors, and weapon systems. Navy and Marine Corps METOC personnel provide for 

safe space, aviation, surface, and submerged movement, maneuver, and navigation in support of naval, 

joint, and combined forces, operating around the globe. This is done with a cadre of highly trained 

military and civilian personnel, educated in both sciences and warfighting services. By teaming with 

and leveraging the efforts of other agencies and activities, the Naval Oceanography Program (NOP) 

meets these challenges in a cost-effective manner, providing a full spectrum of products and services to 

provide decision makers in the field with environmental decision superiority while using only a small 

percentage of the Federal weather budget. Two high-profile elements of the NOP, Battlespace on 

Demand and Littoral Battlespace Sensing, are discussed in Section 2, in the subsection of Military 

Services on Navy Products and Services. 

Operational Support 

Naval METOC provides a wide array of essential tactical, operational and strategic METOC products 

and services to operating forces afloat and ashore. These services include collecting and processing 

environmental data using resources such as oceanographic ships, aircraft, satellites, and computing 

systems. These products and services enhance the performance of active and passive sensor and 

weapon systems; optimize the effectiveness of the sea control mission for mine counter-measures; and 

identify the environmental effects that influence the performance of fixed and mobile warfare systems 

and tactics. General and tailored oceanographic, acoustic, and meteorological forecasts are provided 

daily to fleet commanders and individual operating units from the Meteorology and Oceanography 

Command's numerical modeling and forecasting centers and from forecasting support activities located 

worldwide. Funding primarily supports national security interests and also benefits maritime 

commerce. Operational support for the Navy and Marine Corps includes the day-to-day provision of 

METOC products and services. As naval operations in the littoral increase, Naval METOC support is 

directed towards providing on-scene capabilities to personnel that directly furnish environmental data 

for sensor, weapon system, and personnel planning and employment. These on-scene capabilities are 

key elements for enabling the war-fighters to take advantage of the natural environment as part of 

battlespace management. Owing to the crucial interrelationship of the ocean and the atmosphere, 

Naval METOC requires various oceanographic products to provide the requisite meteorological 

services. In addition to aviation and maritime METOC support, Navy and Marine Corps METOC 

teams provide a variety of unique services on demand, such as electro-optical, electro-magnetic, and 

acoustic propagation models and products, METOC-sensitive tactical decision aids, and global sea ice 

analyses and forecasts. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Systems Acquisition. Naval METOC systems acquisition is accomplished through the Program 

Executive Office for Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence and Space (C4I 

and Space) in San Diego, California. This funds new and replacement meteorological equipment for 

all Navy and Marine Corps Air Stations, all Navy ships, USMC Operational Forces units and other 

activities required to provide weather observations and provides safety of flight capabilities. The 

procurement has been thoroughly coordinated with other DoD and civilian agencies. Program also 

funds replacement of Survey Vessel shipboard mission equipment, deep and multibeam SONARs, Side 

Scan SONARs, Hydrographic Survey Launches, Ship Moving Vessel Profilers, Unmanned Under 

Water Gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. The Oceanographer of the Navy also funded, 

through its SCN, two new research vessels (one in FY 2011; one in FY 2012), to be operated by 

civilian research institutions in coordination with the University National Oceanographic Laboratory 

System (UNOLS). 

Navy Integrated Tactical Environmental System (NITES-Fielded, NITES-Next). The Navy operates 

a distributed model in support of tactical weather prediction. Each NITES is a set of meteorology and 

oceanography forecast, database, and decision-aid tools tailored for specific platforms and users. Five 

variants exist to support a variety of operators and platforms. NITES-Fielded is a tactical 

environmental support system which collectively refers to all five variants. The Distributed 

Atmospheric Modeling Prediction System (DAMPS) allows users to ingest high-resolution data and 

on-scene observations into regional and global model information received from the Fleet Numerical 

Meteorology and Oceanography Center. The result is an on-scene weather model that provides 

accurate weather predictions for an operating area within a 24-hour time frame. 

The Navy is developing a follow-on system, called NITES–Next, to increase the capabilities for 

ashore, afloat, and mobile METOC support to naval tactical operations and to be net-centric and 

interoperable with the other services. NITES–Next will be a software-only solution and compliant 

with the DOD Global Information Grid and Navy FORCEnet architectures. The Navy is coordinating 

with the Air Force to efficiently and effectively leverage the Air Force’s Joint Environmental Toolkit 

(JET) Program to eliminate unnecessary duplication and build a System of Systems to support all joint 

warfighters and peace-keeping missions, including homeland defense. 

Through-the-Sensor (TTS) Capabilities. The Hazardous Weather Detection and Display Capability 

(HWDDC) and Tactical Environmental Processor (TEP) are TTS technologies which will passively tap 

Navy air-search radars to obtain and display hazardous weather information. The HWDDC and TEP 

systems will be based off common modular weather processing algorithms and will have similar data 

product and display capabilities. Essentially, they represent one common set of processing algorithms 

applied to two different radars. The differences in capabilities supported by the systems are driven by 

the differences in the individual radars. 

The HWDDC will be integrated into the baseline AN/SPS-48G air-search radar, allowing it to extract 

and display reflectivity data. The HWDDC addresses a long-standing fleet requirement for real-time 

hazardous weather detection/display to support safety of flight and operations planning within Carrier 

and Expeditionary Strike Groups. The knowledge of hazardous weather conditions afloat greatly 

enhances readiness and combat posture. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Research and Development 

Naval METOC R&D is cooperatively sponsored by the Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy and the 

Chief of Naval Research. This program enables the warfighter of the future to effectively carry out 

their mission by transitioning to operational use research performed by the Office of Naval Research. 

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command is the primary office responsible for transitioning 

Naval research to operational use. All research and development funded by the Oceanographer of the 

Navy is in direct support of the Naval mission. 

Naval Research and Development (R&D) efforts typically have applications to meteorological, 

oceanographic, and/or tactical systems. The Navy’s tabulation of budget data includes R&D funding 

for basic research, applied research, demonstration and validation, and engineering and manufacturing 

development. Projects initiated by the Navy and Marine Corps, under sponsorship of the 

Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy, transition from engineering development to operational naval 

systems. Such efforts include advances in Naval METOC forecasting capabilities, enhancements to 

communications and data compression techniques, further development and improvement of models to 

better predict METOC parameters in littoral regions, and an improved understanding of the impact 

these parameters have on sensors, weapons systems, and platform performance. 

The Naval METOC community works closely with research developers and operational forces to 

ensure that naval and joint force commanders will always have the most accurate, timely, and georeferenced METOC information available for successful operations. 

United States Army 

The U.S. Army (USA) estimates a $23.9 million requirement for operational support and $13.8 million 

requirement for research and development in FY 2013. Funding for operational support will increase 

by 33 percent while funding for research increases slightly from FY 2012 to FY 2013. Staffing levels 

remain relatively stable with a slight increase for FY 2013. The 33 percent increase in FY2013 

operational funding can be traced to an additional $6.9 million to field the Artillery’s Profiler Block III 

systems. 

 

Army monies for meteorology are spent on research and development related to the Army mission; the 

development, production, and maintenance of Army meteorological systems; staff meteorological 

functions at selected headquarters; and weather-related training at the Training and Doctrine Command 

(TRADOC) schools and centers. 

Headquarters, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, employs two full-time meteorologists for the coordination of meteorological support within the Department of the Army and 

with other DoD and Federal agencies and organizations, and the development of Department of the 

Army policy concerning weather, environmental services, and oceanographic support to the Army (not 

to include those environmental services functions assigned to the Corps of Engineers). The United 

States Air Force provides one full-time staff weather officer to serve as a liaison between the AF and 

the Army Staff. Headquarters, U.S. Army North employs one civilian meteorologist to address 

meteorological issues at its headquarters. Forces Command, U.S. Army Europe, Eighth U.S. Army, 

U.S. Army Pacific, and U.S. Army South have either Active Component, Reserve Component, or 

civilian Air Force meteorologists who conduct meteorological staff services at these locations. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

TRADOC employs both Army and Air Force personnel to manage its meteorological-related activities. 

As part of the TRADOC weather support structure, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence 

(USAICoE) employs one meteorologist to lead USAICoE weather proponent efforts in the Joint 

Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process and in doctrine, organization, 

training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) work. This JCIDS and 

DOTMLPF work occur within USAICoE and in conjunction with other USA Centers of Excellence 

and the Army research and experimentation organizations. 

The Distributed Common Ground System–Army (DCGS-A) is the Army’s premier intelligence, 

surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) enterprise for the analysis and processing, exploitation, and 

dissemination (PED) of information and intelligence data, including weather, across all echelons. 

DCGS-A weather services enable the Staff Weather Officer and intelligence operators to analyze and 

mitigate weather effects on intelligence operations, target development, and course of action selection. 

DCGS-A provides the actionable weather intelligence in support of tactical Army operations as well as 

resource protection. DCGS-A weather applications take advantage of Air Force weather products such 

as the JET and the Air Force Weather Web Service (AFW-WEBS) through reachback communications 

to supplement forward applications such as the Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) and 

Weather Running Estimate (WRE). DCGS-A employs Ozone Widget technology and the DCGS 

Integrated Backbone (DIB) to distribute products to Mission Command and other users throughout the 

enterprise. 

In FY 2011, the Army received funding for the Meteorological Measuring Set-Profiler (MMS-P) 

artillery system, also known as the Profiler Block I system. This funding was used to support new 

equipment training and fielding, hardware and software upgrades, and technical support for the Block I 

systems. The Army requested additional funding in 2012 to support the continuation of new 

equipment training and fielding for all remaining Profiler Block I systems, the fielding of the Global 

Broadcast System (GBS) Modification to replace the Tactical Very Small Aperture Terminal satellite 

link, and hardware and software upgrades and technical support for the Profiler Block I systems. The 

Army received Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) funds in 2011 for the

development of the CMD-P AN/GMK-2 (Profiler Block III) system, to include software analysis 

efforts for accuracy improvements; migration efforts, leading to a single operating system hosted on 

one computer; the delivery of eight production representative systems; and the conduct of technical 

testing. The Army requested additional 2012 RDT&E funds for the completion of CMD-P AN/GMK2 development efforts initiated in 2011 and the conduct of Limited User Test and Austere 

Environmental Testing of the eight production representative systems. Procurement for the Block III 

systems is scheduled to begin in FY 2013. 

Weather equipment maintenance and training costs at the Artillery school accounted for the majority of 

weather-related expenditures within TRADOC. Funds were programmed for operations support 

related to training development, instructor/support personnel, logistics (expendable supplies), and 

repair costs for artillery meteorological systems at the US Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS). 

Funding was also allocated to support development of weather requirements and doctrine, along with 

training on Army tactics, techniques, and procedures for Air Force weather personnel at the US Army 

Intelligence Center of Excellence at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. Maintenance and servicing of five automated 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

surface observing sensor systems and two pole-mounted Tactical Meteorological Observing Systems at 

Ft Rucker, AL, accounted for the remainder of TRADOC weather-related spending. 

The Corps of Engineers funds NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) to collect and maintain 

precipitation information from 876 meteorological sites. The COE funds the NWS for hydrometeorological studies and funds the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for maintaining hydrometeorological data collection services for 2479 sites. The rest of the sites are maintained by the COE. 

U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Pacific maintain a small budget to fund Army owned automated 

weather sensing systems within their respective area of responsibility. 

Elsewhere in the Army, budgets for meteorological operations and research do not change significantly 

from FY 2012 to FY 2013. Within the Army Materiel Command, the Army Research Laboratory 

(ARL) continued its research and development efforts in basic and applied atmospheric science. After 

undergoing a modest reduction in funding from FY 2010 to FY 2011, ARL anticipates no change in 

funding from FY 2012 to FY 2013. The Army Test and Evaluation Command’s meteorology program 

budget will increase slightly from FY 2012 to FY 2013, with most of the increase going to 

instrumentation at the test ranges. The consolidation of the individual Four-Dimensional Weather 

(4DWX) computer systems in 2011-12 at each range to a primary system at Dugway Proving Ground 

(DPG) and a backup elsewhere, has gone smoothly, reducing acquisition costs and streamlining 

maintenance. 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

U.S. Coast Guard 

All of the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) funding for meteorological programs is for operations support. 

For FY 2013, the requested funding level is $29.4 million. The Coast Guard does not have a specific 

program and budget for meteorology—all meteorological activities are accomplished as part of general 

operations. The Coast Guard’s activities include the collection and dissemination of meteorological 

and iceberg warning information for the benefit of the marine community. The Coast Guard also 

collects coastal and marine observations from its shore stations and cutters and transmits these 

observations daily to the Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and NOAA’s 

National Weather Service. These observations are used by both the Navy and NOAA in generating 

weather forecasts. 

The Coast Guard also disseminates a variety of weather forecast products and warnings to the marine 

community via radio transmissions. Coast Guard shore stations often serve as sites for NWS automated 

coastal weather stations, and the National Data Buoy Center provides logistics support in deploying 

and maintaining NOAA offshore weather buoys from Coast Guard cutters. The International Ice Patrol 

conducts iceberg surveillance operations and provides warnings to mariners on the presence of 

icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. Coast Guard efforts in meteorological operations and 

services have not changed significantly during recent years. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funds two principal programs—the soil, water, and air 

(SWA) program and the fire weather activities of the Office of Fire and Aviation (OFA). 

Soil Water and Air Program (SWA). When existing monitoring networks are not sufficient to meet the 

needs for air-resource-related information, the BLM, within the SWA program, initiates efforts to 

collect additional data through cooperative efforts with other agencies or with resource management 

staff in state and field offices. The BLM will expend an estimated total of $1.45 million on such efforts 

in FY 2013. This total includes $120,000 to operate a series of RAWS stations equipped with 

additional instruments to measure soil moisture and winter precipitation not required for fire 

monitoring; $140,000 to maintain eight stations in the NRCS SCAN network; $65,000 to operate six 

NADP sites; $250,000 on other efforts such as downscaling climate models and assessing the response 

of aquatic ecosystems to reduced groundwater discharge from climate change impacts; and $875,000 

for labor and logistics to support climate and weather data collection efforts by BLM resource 

management staff. 

Office of Fire and Aviation Program (OFA). OFA funding for FY 2013 is $3.11 million, which 

represents BLM support for meteorologists at the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) 

and other Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACC) and BLM support of the Interagency 

Remote Automatic Weather Station (RAWS) network. An additional $1.2 million is recovered through 

reimbursable accounts with non-Department of Interior (DOI) agencies for RAWS support. Funded 

activities related to the RAWS network include maintenance, travel, transportation, services, supplies, 

and equipment. Some agencies incur additional costs in support of the RAWS network through 

commercially contracted maintenance services. 

The interagency RAWS network is an important tool for wildland fire management which directly 

supports the protection of life and property. All affected Federal agencies within DOI participate in its 

acquisition, operation, and support. The BLM, in particular, has a lead role in the maintenance of the 

RAWS network, providing both data distribution services and equipment support. Participating 

agencies address common issues and coordinate efforts to ensure the collection of accurate and useful 

fire weather data. 

Under the Predictive Services Program, meteorologists who specialize in fire weather services team 

with intelligence specialists and wildland fire analysts at the GACCs and the NICC to form Predictive 

Services units. The Predictive Services units act as centers of expertise to produce integrated planning 

and decision-support tools that enable more proactive, safe, and cost-effective fire management. 

National Park Service 

The National Park Service (NPS) expends about $1.2 million on atmospheric research with a focus on 

measurements of all forms of atmospheric reactive nitrogen and on aerosol science. The goal of this 

research is to identify the sources of air pollution that are affecting park ecosystems and visibility and 

to quantify their impacts. The NPS also expends approximately $1.8 million in routine air quality, 

visibility, and meteorological monitoring networks. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

U.S. Geological Survey 

The U.S. Geological Survey expends approximately $66,000 per year conducting post-wildfire debris 

flow warning operations. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

U.S. Code Title 49 Section 44720 (49 U.S.C. 44720) designates the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) as the Meteorological Authority for domestic and international aviation weather services of the 

United States. In this capacity, the FAA provides requirements for the administration of aviation 

weather services to the National Weather Service (NWS). The FAA is responsible for ensuring 

compliance with these services and with maintaining International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 

Standards and Recommended Practices as specified in Annex 3-Meteorological Service for 

International Air Navigation. 

For FY 2013, the FAA is requesting a total of $271 million for Aviation Weather related Systems 

Development, Operations Support, and Recurring Research and Development costs; an approximate 

3% increase from FY 2012 actual funding received. The actual funding for the Aviation Weather 

Programs in 2012 was $264 million. 

The changes are comprised of: 

 An increase in reported numbers for Systems Development from an actually received $37 

million in FY 2012 to a requested $51 million in FY 2013 

 A decrease in reported numbers for Operations Support from an actually received $203 million 

in FY 2012 to a requested $200 million in FY 2013 

 A decrease in reported numbers for Recurring R&D Costs from an actually received $22 

million in FY 2012 to a requested $19 million in FY 2013 

The funding changes reflect major initiatives in the Aviation Weather programs to support the Next 

Generation (NextGen) National Air Transportation System. These changes will bring increased and 

enhanced automation to the collection of Weather Observations, including the dissemination of 

weather products, graphics, and decision-making information; tools available for improved service by 

the air traffic facilities, pilots, the aviation industry, and general aviation users. 

Federal Highway Administration 

Due to the extended time for road construction projects, the Department of Transportation does not go 

through an annual budget process but typically uses a six-year authorization. The latest transportation 

authorization for the Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) began in 2006 and has been 

extended through FY 2012 with level funding authorized at $5M each year over the life of the highway 

bill ─ the [SAFETEA-LU]. $4.6M was appropriated for FY2012. There is much uncertainty 

surrounding FY 2013 except that the funding levels will be less than over the period covered by the 

previous highway bill. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) hopes to receive $2.0M for the 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

FY2013 budget. All of FHWA’s funding is for applied research. The majority of RWMP activity 

involves software development and studies under the research and development category to develop 

decision-support systems that integrate high-resolution road weather products with transportationoriented management strategies. 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

All of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) funding of meteorological and air quality 

programs is for supporting basic and applied research. The anticipated funding level in FY 2013 for 

directed meteorological research is about $7.2 million. 

Continued attention is being paid to the effects of airborne toxins and fine particulate matter on human 

health, on the effect of climate change on air quality, and the impact of air pollution on human health 

and sensitive ecosystems. In addition, to promote excellence in environmental science and engineering, 

the EPA established a national research grants program and substantially increased its support for 

investigator-initiated research. The funding for grants (with reliance on quality science and peer 

review) and for graduate fellowships (to support the education and careers of future scientists) will 

provide for a more balanced, long-term capital investment in improved environmental research and 

development. The funding for the grants program will remain about the same in FY 2013 as in FY 

2012. 

The EPA’s Research Grants Program will fund research in areas, including ecological assessment, air 

quality, environmental fate and treatment of toxins and hazardous wastes, effects of global climate 

change on air quality, and exploratory research. The portion of these grants that will be awarded for 

meteorological research during FY 2013 cannot be foreseen, but it is probable that the grant awards 

will increase the base amount of $7.2 million listed above for directed meteorological research. 

The EPA continues its development and evaluation of air quality models for air pollutants on all 

temporal and spatial scales as mandated by the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990. Research will focus 

on urban, mesoscale, regional, and multimedia models, which will be used to develop air pollution 

control policies, human and ecosystem exposure assessments, and air quality forecasts. There will be 

increased emphasis placed on meteorological research into global-to-regional-to-urban-local formation 

and intercontinental transport of air contaminants in support of the revisions to the National Ambient 

Air Quality Standards and ecosystem protection strategies. Increased efficiency of computation and 

interpretation of model results are being made possible by means of supercomputing and scientific 

visualization techniques. 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) estimated meteorological operations 

and research budget request for FY 2013 is $904,175,000. This request is an increase of 4.9 percent 

from the FY 2012 budget of $861,549,000.1 The budget figures reported are based on relevant 

missions and programs in the Earth Science Division2 and the Heliophysics Division3 within the 

 

1 The budget request in FY 2011 was $877,894,000, which corrects the reporting error made in last year’s report. 

2

 The Earth Science Division reported budget includes an estimate of activities relevant to weather research and closely 

related program activities in observing research and data analysis. Research and satellite mission budgets are estimated 

1-16
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Science Mission Directorate, and the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Across 

the directorates, NASA estimates the extent to which each mission and program contributes and relates 

to meteorological operations and research activities. 

NASA Earth Science advances understanding of the Earth system, its components and their 

interactions, its changes, and the consequences of these changes for life. The program pioneers the use 

of remote sensing data, primarily space-based, in new and innovative ways, and leverages NASA’s 

unique capabilities in global Earth observation. Earth Science Research sponsors basic disciplinary and 

interdisciplinary research, Earth system modeling efforts, the Airborne Science project (which 

provides access to aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems), and supercomputing efforts supporting a 

variety of programs, as well as education and outreach. At least 90 percent of the funds of the program 

are competitively awarded to investigators from academia, the private sector, and NASA Centers. The 

program uses satellite and airborne measurements, coupled with cutting-edge analyses and numerical 

models, to turn observations into information and understanding. 

NASA takes an organized approach to address complex, interdisciplinary Earth science problems, 

integrating science across the programmatic elements in pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of 

the Earth system. The resulting programmatic structure comprises six interdisciplinary and interrelated 

science focus areas. These areas are: 

 Climate Variability and Change: understanding the roles of ocean, atmosphere, land, and ice in 

the climate system and improving predictive capability for future evolution; 

 Atmospheric Composition: understanding and improving predictive capability for changes in 

the ozone layer, climate forcing, and air quality associated with changes in atmospheric 

composition; 

 Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems: quantifying, understanding and predicting changes in Earth’s 

ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, including the global carbon cycle, land cover, and 

biodiversity; 

 Water and Energy Cycle: quantifying the key reservoirs and fluxes in the global water cycle 

and assessing water cycle change and water quality; 

 Weather: enabling improved predictive capability for weather and extreme weather events; and 

 Earth Surface and Interior: characterizing the dynamics of the Earth surface and interior and 

forming the scientific basis for the assessment and mitigation of natural hazards and response to 

rare and extreme events. 

NASA also supports weather research through the Heliophysics Division and weather operations 

within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). The objective of the 

 proportionally to their overall contributions to activities reported, noting that the majority of ESD’s program aims to 

advance Earth System science. 

3 This report includes all resources that contribute to the advancement of space weather knowledge and to the transfer of 

that knowledge into operational space weather prediction systems. Space weather is a relatively immature field so that 

most NASA Heliophysics Division research assets and programs contribute significantly to the advancement of space 

weather prediction systems. NASA is currently the nation's major contributor to new knowledge in the area of space 

weather. 

1-17
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to discover and communicate 

new scientific knowledge concerning the magnetic variability of the Sun, the effect of this variability 

on the planets of the solar system including the Earth, and the dynamic structure of interplanetary 

space. Research areas for the coming year include: 

 New understanding of the ways that space storms are fueled by oxygen originating from 

Earth’s own atmosphere. 

 The surprising discovery that conditions in the Earth’s ionosphere, thermosphere, and 

mesosphere are affected strongly by the terrestrial weather and climate below. 

 The emergence of a long-term decline in the density of Earth’s upper atmosphere, and how this 

change affects may affect weather systems below and space weather system above. 

The HEOMD objective is weather-related safety of manned spacecraft, satellites, scientific 

instruments, and launch vehicles. The greatest challenge is to accurately measure and forecast 

mesoscale weather events that strongly impact launch and landing operations. 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) 

For FY 2013, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) total planned contract expenditures of 

$691,000 ($124,000 for operations and $567,000 for supporting research) is for meteorological 

operations to continue technical assistance for the analysis of atmospheric dispersion for routine and 

postulated accidental releases from nuclear facilities, for conducting meteorological research in support 

of licensing activities, for preparation of guidance on meteorological issues in licensing actions, and 

for the review of proposed sites for possible construction of new nuclear power plants. 

The meteorological support program in the NRC includes analyzing and utilizing meteorological data 

in atmospheric transport and dispersion models. These models provide insight on plume pathways in 

the near- and far-fields for building wake and dispersion characteristics to perform dose calculations on 

postulated releases into the environment. Meteorological information is used as input to the 

probabilistic safety assessment, the assessment of the radiological impacts of routine releases from 

normal operations, the assessment of other (non-radiological) hazards (including rare external events 

such as extreme storms) that may impact safe operation of the facility, and the assessment of design or 

operational changes proposed for the facility. 

Current and projected research activities include updating the hydrometeorological reports (HMR) and 

methods used to estimate the effects of extreme precipitation events, and developing an integrated 

approach for probabilistic flood hazard assessment (PFHA). During FY 2012, research was initiated to 

address the influence of orographic features on extreme precipitation events—an aspect which was 

ignored in developing the original HMRs. This work is prioritized for those areas of the United States 

where new nuclear power plants are proposed and will provide the design basis for flood protection 

systems. 

Additionally, after a hiatus of some 25 years, the nuclear power industry has expressed an interest in 

seeking approvals for new nuclear power plants. Numerous early site permit, combined license, and 

design certification applications have been received and are currently under review. These reviews will 

also consider regional climatology and local meteorology. In addition to its internal review activities, 

1-18
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

the NRC may seek assistance from other Federal agencies to support its safety and environmental 

reviews. 

BUDGET TABLES 

 

Table 1 Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research Costs* by Agency 

 

1-19
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Table 2 Operational Costs by Budget Category 

This table depicts how the agencies plan to obligate their funds for meteorological operations by 

“budget category.” The two major categories are “Operations Support” and “Major Systems 

Acquisition.” To a large degree, these categories correspond to non-hardware costs (Operations 

Support) and hardware costs (Systems Acquisition). 

 Operations % of

 Support Total FY13

AGENCY FY12 FY13 FY12 FY13 FY12 FY13 %CHG TOTAL

Agriculture 18899 19021 0 0 18899 19021 0.6 0.5

Commerce/NOAA(Subtot) 1102268 1103637 1776850 1921634 2879118 3025271 5.1 86.7

 NWS 893271 883431 80205 71325 973476 954756 -1.9 27.4

 NESDIS 154533 162910 1696645 1850309 1851178 2013219 8.8 57.7

 OAR 00 00 00 0 0

 NOS 27530 29055 0 0 27530 29055 5.5 0.8

 OMAO 26934 28241 0 0 26934 28241 4.9 0.8

Defense(Subtot) 161231 166298 31781 39731 193012 206029 6.7 5.9

 Air Force 81149 82727 24221 24766 105370 107493 2.0 3.1

 Navy 68300 73081 1465 1567 69765 74648 7.0 2.1

 Army 11782 10490 6095 13398 17877 23888 33.6 0.7

Homeland Security (Subtot) 28500 29410 0 0 28500 29410 3.2 0.8

 USCG 28500 29410 0 0 28500 29410 3.2 0.8

Interior/BLM 6795 6829 0 0 6795 6829 0.5 0.2

 BLM (Subtot) 4729 4963 0 0 4729 4963 4.9 0.1

 SWA 1360 1450 0 0 1360 1450 6.6 0.0

 OFA 3369 3513 0 0 3369 3513 4.3 0.1

 NPS 2000 1800 0 0 2000 1800 -10.0 0.1

 USGS 66 66 0 0 66 66 0.0 0.0

Transportation(Subtot) 203903 200985 0 0 203903 200985 -1.4 5.8

 FAA 203903 200985 0 0 203903 200985 -1.4 5.8

 FHWA 00 00 00 0 0

EPA 00 00 00 0 0

NASA 1708 1603 6190 0 7898 1603 -79.7 0.0

NRC 32 124 0 0 32 124 287.5 0.0

DOE 00 00 00 0 0

TOTAL 1523336 1527907 1814821 1961365 3338157 3489272 4.5 100.0

% of FY TOTAL 45.6% 43.8% 54.4% 56.2% 100.0% 100.0%

TABLE 2 Operational Costs by Budget Category

(Thousands of Dollars)

Major Systems

Acquisition

Table 3 Supporting Research Costs by Budget Category 

This table describes how the agencies plan to obligate their funds for meteorological supporting 

research, broken down by budget categories. The agencies’ supporting research budgets are subdivided 

along similar lines of operational funding--Research and Development (non-hardware) and Systems 

Development (hardware). For FY 2013, agencies will obligate a total of $1.25 billion in supporting 

research funds in the following manner: $615 million to research and development, $635 million to 

systems development. 

1-20
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

% of

 Total FY13

AGENCY FY12 FY13 FY12 FY13 FY12 FY13 %CHG TOTAL

Agriculture 45031 42131 982 982 46013 43113 -6.3 3.4

Commerce/NOAA(Subtot) 157894 157513 11207 12934 169101 170447 0.8 13.6

 NWS 13702 11073 8837 10564 22539 21637 -4.0 1.7

 NESDIS 26667 26987 0 0 26667 26987 1.2 2.2

 OAR 116525 118453 1870 1870 118395 120323 1.6 9.6

 NOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 OMAO-AOC 1000 1000 500 500 1500 1500 0.0 0.1

Defense(Subtot) 35239 40618 18813 12198 54052 52816 -2.3 4.2

 Air Force 12106 16850 18813 12198 30919 29048 -6.1 2.3

 Navy 9500 9880 0 0 9500 9880 4.0 0.8

 Army 13633 13888 0 0 13633 13888 1.9 1.1

Homeland Security (Subtot) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 USCG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Interior/BLM 1700 1200 0 0 1700 1200 -29.4 0.1

 BLM (Subtot) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 SWA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 OFA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 NPS 1700 1200 0 0 1700 1200 -29.4 0.1

 USGS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Transportation(Subtot) 27574 21262 37400 51600 64974 72862 12.1 5.8

 FAA 22974 19262 37400 51600 60374 70862 17.4 5.7

 FHWA 4600 2000 0 0 4600 2000 -56.5 0.2

EPA 8000 7200 0 0 8000 7200 -10.0 0.6

NASA 324780 344505 528871 558067 853651 902572 5.7 72.2

NRC 340 567 0 0 340 567 66.8 0.0

DOE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 600558 614996 597273 635781 1197831 1250777 4.4 100.0

% of FY TOTAL 50.1% 49.2% 49.9% 50.8% 100.0% 100.0%

TABLE 3 Supporting Research and Development Costs by Budget Category

(Thousands of Dollars)

Recurring

R&D Costs

Systems

Development

Tables 4 and 5, Operational Costs and Supporting Research Costs by Service Category 

Tables 4 and 5 reflect how the agencies plan to obligate FY 2013 operational and supporting research funds by service 

category. The service category definitions are described below: 

Service Category Definitions 

 Basic Services. Basic services include the basic meteorological service system, to include observations, public weather 

forecasts, severe weather warnings and advisories, and the meteorological satellite activities of NOAA. Basic services 

also include the operations and supporting research of other Federal agencies that have been identified as contributing 

to basic meteorological services. 

 Agriculture and Land Management Meteorological Services. Agricultural and land management meteorological 

services are those services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the agricultural industries and Federal, 

state, and local agencies charged with the protection and maintenance of the Nation's land areas. Meteorological 

services specifically tailored for wildland fire management are reported under the wildland fire weather service 

category. 

 Aviation Services. Aviation services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the 

requirements of general, commercial, and military aviation. Civil programs that are directly related to services solely 

1-21
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

for aviation and military programs in support of land-based aviation and medium- or long-range missile operations are 

included. Detailed aviation services/products for specific areas include, but are not limited to, ceiling and visibility, 

convective hazards, en route winds and temperatures, ground de-icing, in-flight icing, terminal winds and temperatures, 

turbulence, volcanic ash, and other airborne hazardous materials. 

 Climate Services. Climate services are specialized meteorological and hydrological services established to meet the 

requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information on the historical, current, and future state of the earth 

system. Climate services include observations, monitoring, assessments, predictions, and projections of the 

atmosphere, hydrosphere, and land surface systems. 

 Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services. Emergency response and homeland security services are those 

specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local 

agencies responding to natural disasters and security incidents. This category includes the use of atmospheric transport 

and diffusion (ATD) models for predicting the dispersion of airborne toxic substances; it also includes natural disaster 

monitoring and prediction services and the transport of water-borne toxic substances not included in basic services. 

 Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Services. Hydrometeorology and water resources services are those 

specialized meteorological services and facilities that combine atmospheric science, hydrology, and water resources in 

order to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information on the effects of precipitation 

events on infrastructure, water supplies, and waterways. These products and services also meet the needs of the general 

public in the conduct of everyday activities and for the protection of lives and property. 

 Military Services. Military services are those meteorological operations, services, and capabilities established to meet 

the unique requirements of military user commands and their component elements. Programs and services that are not 

uniquely military in nature are reported under another service category (e.g., Basic Services, Aviation Services 

[civilian], Surface transportation Services, or Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services). 

 Space Weather Services. Space weather services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities 

established to meet the needs of users for information on space weather conditions and space weather storms that can 

affect terrestrial systems, the Earth’s atmosphere, and the near-Earth space environment. Space weather services 

include monitoring and reporting of space weather storms and their effects on the Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and 

geomagnetic fields. Early warning of an approaching space weather storm, so that timely protective response is 

possible, is an important part of space weather services. 

 Surface Transportation. Surface transportation services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities 

established to meet the weather information needs of the following surface transportation sectors: roadways, long-haul 

railways, the marine transportation system, rural and urban transit, pipeline systems, and airport ground operations. The 

roadway sector includes state and Federal highways and all state and local roads and streets. The marine transportation 

system includes coastal and inland waterways, ports and harbors, and the intermodal terminals serving them. Rural and 

urban transit includes bus and van service on roadways and rail lines for metropolitan subway and surface “light-rail” 

systems.

 Wildland Fire Weather Services. Wildland fire weather services are those specialized meteorological services and 

facilities established to meet the requirements of the wildfire management community at the Federal, state, tribal, and 

local levels. The primary areas of service are to support the reduction of wildfire initiation potential and the mitigation 

of both human and environmental impacts once initiation does occur. Services can include support to first responders 

and land managers and climate services tailored to wildland fire management. 

 Other Specialized Services. Other specialized services include weather and climate information services and facilities 

established to meet the special needs of user agencies or constituencies not included in basic services or the preceding 

service categories. This service category includes any efforts to integrate the social sciences into meteorological 

operations, applications, and services not already described in the preceding sections. 

1-22
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

1-23
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Table 6 Personnel Engaged in Meteorological Operations 

Agency staff resources engaged in meteorological operations. The total agency staff resources 

requested for FY 2013 is 12,142, an 11.3% decrease from FY 2012. 

% of FY 13

FY 2012 FY 2013 %CHG TOTAL

Agriculture 130 130 0.0 1.1

Commerce/NOAA (sub-total) 5920 6047 2.1 49.8

 NWS 4679 4544 -2.9 37.4

 NESDIS (sub-total) 558 818 46.6 6.7

 NESDIS 558 818 46.6 6.7

 Reimbursed 0 0 0 0

 OAR 459 459 0.0 3.8

 NOS 120 122 1.7 1.0

 OMAO-AOC 104 104 0.0 0.9

Defense(Subtotal) 6342 4665 -26.4 38.4

 Air Force 5480 3802 -30.6 31.3 *FY13 does not include Guard and Reserve

 Navy 415 415 0.0 3.4

 Marine Corps 370 370 0.0 3.0

 Army 77 78 1.3 0.6

Homeland Security-USCG 108 108 0.0 0.9

Interior/BLM(Subtotal) 45 44 -2.2 0.4

 BLM Soil/Water/Air Program 10 10 0.0 0.1

 BLM Fire Weather Program 35 34 -2.9 0.3

Transportation(Subtotal) 1140 1140 0.0 9.4

 FHWA 0 0 0 0

 FAA 1140 1140 0.0 9.4

EPA 0 0 0 0

NASA 3 3 0.0 0.0

NRC 5 5 0.0 0.0

DOE 0 0 0 0

 TOTAL 13693 12142 -11.3 100.0

* Refer to Section 2, Resource Information and Agency Program Updates, Department of Defense, U.S. Army for details

AGENCY

TABLE 6 Personnel Engaged in Meteorlological Operations

(Units are Full time Equivalent Staff Years)*

1-24
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 7 Interagency Fund Transfers 

This table summarizes the reimbursement of funds from one agency to another during FY 2012. 

Agencies routinely enter into reimbursable agreements when they determine that one agency can 

provide the activity more effectively than the other. While specific amounts may vary from year-toyear, the pattern shown is essentially stable and reflects a significant level of interagency cooperation. 

Agency Funds Agency Funds Supporting

Transferred from: Transferred to: Operations Research

USDA/USFS DOI/BLM 831

NESDIS 0 0

Air Force Weather DOC/NOAA/NWS 1,539

Air Force Weather DOC/NOAA/NESDIS 88

Air Force Weather DOC/NOAA/OAR 275

Air Force Weather DOC/OFCM 156

Air Force Weather USGS (Dept of Interior) 546

Air Force Weather NASA 381 1346

Air Force Weather NSF 600

Air Force Weather NSF/UCAR/NCAR 2596

Corps of Engineers National Weather Service 260 215

Corps of Engineers US Geological Survey 18922 0

Army OFCM 65 0

FAA(Contract Weather) NWS APAIDS in Alaska 128

FAA(Contract Weather) NWS Cascade Locks 13

FAA(Contract Weather) NWS Meteorologists 388

FAA(NEXRAD) NWS 2500

FAA(ASOS) NWS 12479

NASA DOD/USAF/45th Space Wing 800 0

DOD/USAF/Edwards AFB 0 0

DOC/NOAA/NDBC 132 0

DOC/NOAA/SMG 400 0

DOI/BLM SWA USDA-NIFA 65

DOI/BLM SWA USDA-NRCS 50

DOI/BLM OFA USFS 835

DOI/BLM OFA DOD 341

FY12 Funds ($K)

 Estimated or Planned

TABLE 7 Interagency Fund Transfers 

 for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

1-25
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Table 8 Facilities/Locations for Taking Meteorological Observations 

This table shows the number of facilities/locations or platforms at which the Federal agencies carry out 

or supervise the taking of various types of meteorological observations. 

TABLE 8 Facilities/Locations Taking Meteorological Observations 

No. of 

2012 

TYPE OF OBSERVATION by AGENCY Locations 

Surface, land 

Commerce (NWS all types) 841 

Commerce (OAR manned Atmospheric Baseline Observations) 6 

Commerce (OAR Climate Reference Network) 122 

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 175 

Navy (U.S. & Overseas) 68 

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 24 

Army (U.S. & Overseas) 55 

Transportation (FAA Contract Wx Obsg Stn)* 147 

Transportation (FAA Auto Wx Obsg Stn - AWOS) 180 

Transportation (FAA Auto Wx Sensor Sys - AWSS) 44 

Transportation (FAA Auto Sfc Obsg Sys - ASOS)** 571 

Transportation (FAA Flight Service Stations in Alaska)*** 17 

Transportation (FHWA-Road Wx Obsg Stn) 2435 

Homeland Security (USCG Coastal) 50 

Interior (BLM Soil/Water/Air Program) 200 

Interior (BLM Office of Fire and Aviation) 971 

Agriculture 1043 

Agriculture (NRCS active manual snow courses) 995 

Agriculture (NRCS automated SNOTEL stations) 834 

Agriculture (NRCS automated SCAN stations) 183 

NASA (all types) 0 

Total 8961 

*Note: All 147 FAA Contract Wx Obsg Stations are colocated with a FAA or Commerce (NWS) ASOS 

**Note: Transportation (FAA oversight Auto Sfc Obsg Sys, non-Fed inspected 1400) 

***Note: 17 Flight Service Stations in Alaska since 2007 owned and supported by Harris Corporation 

Surface, marine 

Commerce (SEAS-equipped ships) 622 

Commerce (Coastal-Marine Autom Network) 56 

Commerce (NOS/PORTS - only stations with met sensors) 66 

Commerce (Buoys--moored) 98 

Commerce (Buoys--drifting) 21 

Commerce (NOS/NWLON - only stations with met sensors) 182 

Navy (Ships with met personnel) 29 

Navy (Ships without met personnel) 253 

Homeland Security (USCG Cutters) 250 

NASA (Buoys - moored) 0 

Total 1577 

 

1-26
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

TABLE 8 Facilities/Locations Taking Meteorological Observations, Continued 

 

Upper air, balloon 

Commerce (U.S.) 102 

Commerce (Foreign, Cooperative) 22 

Commerce (met/ozone/water vapor) 17 

Air Force, Mobile 29 

Army, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 9 

Army, Mobile (U.S. and Overseas) 5 

Navy, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 0 

Navy, Mobile(U.S. & Overseas) 10 

Navy, Ships 29 

Marine Corps, Mobile 8 

NASA (U.S. and Overseas) 13 

Total 244 

Atmospheric Profilers 

Air Force (Eastern Range) (915 MHz) 5 

Air Force (Eastern Range) (SODARS) 5 

Air Force (Western Range) (915 MHz) 5 

Air Force (Western Range) (50 MHz) 1 

Air Force (Western Range SODARS) 2 

Army 4 

NASA (50 MHz) 1 

Total 23 

Doppler weather radar (WSR-88D) sites 

Commerce (NWS) 122 

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 26 

Transportation-FAA (Off CONUS) 12 

Subtotal 160 

Doppler weather radar (Not WSR-88D) sites 

Air Force (Fixed) 15 

Army 3 

Navy (Fixed) 9 

Commerce (Research Phased Array Radar- NWRT) 1 

Subtotal 27 

Airport Terminal Doppler weather radars 

Transportation-FAA (Commissioned) 45 

Subtotal 45 

Conventional radar (non-Doppler) sites 

Commerce (NWS) 2 

Air Force, Mobile Units 35 

Army (U.S. and Overseas) 0 

Transportation (FAA (WSP)) 34 

Subtotal 71 

303 

 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

TABLE 8 Facilities/Locations Taking Meteorological Observations, Continued 

Air Force (OPUPs only) 99 

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 9 

Army 1 

Total 109 

Weather reconnaissance Aircraft 

Commerce (OMAO) 3 

Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) - WC-130J 0 

Total 3 

Geostationary meteorological satellites (No. operating) 

Commerce (2 primary, 1 standby, 1 servicing South America) 4 

NESDIS Total 4 

GOES 12 - South America 1

GOES 13 - Operational East 1

GOES 14 - On-Orbit Storage 1

GOES 15 - Operational West 1

http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goesstatus/

Polar meteorological satellites (No. operating) 

Commerce (1 PM primary, 1 European AM Primary, 3 

Secondaries, 1 Backup) 6 

NESDIS Total 6 

METOP-A - AM Primary 1

NOAA 15 - AM Secondary 1

NOAA 16 - PM Secondary 1

NOAA 17 - AM Backup 1

NOAA 18 - PM Secondary 1

NOAA 19 - PM Primary 1

http://www.oso.noaa.gov/poesstatus/

Air Force (2 primary, 2 secondary, 2 tactical) 6 

Navy (WINDSAT and GFO) 1 

Total 7 

Electric Field Mills (Surface) 

NASA (KSC) 0 

Army 5 

Total 0 

Lightning Detection Systems 

Air Force (ER&WR - Cloud - Ground) 2 

Air Force (ER&WR - NLDN) 2 

Army 7 

Total 11 

Rocketsondes 

Army Total 1 

1-28
Federal Coordination and Planning 

SECTION 2 

FEDERAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS 

2-1
Federal Coordination and Planning 

2-2
Federal Coordination and Planning 

FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING 

FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE FEDERAL COORDINATION PROCESS 

In 1963, Congress and the Executive Office of the President expressed concern about the 

adequacy of the coordination of Federal meteorological activities. In response, Congress directed 

in Section 304 of Public Law 87-843—the Appropriations Act for State, Justice, Commerce, and 

Related Agencies—that the Bureau of the Budget prepare an annual horizontal budget for all 

meteorological programs in the Federal agencies. The Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of 

Management and Budget, OMB) issued a report in 1963 entitled Survey of Federal 

Meteorological Activities. That report described each agency’s program for meteorological 

services and products and detailed the relationships among the programs of the various agencies. 

The report revealed close cooperation but little evidence of systematic coordination. Based on its 

survey, the Bureau of the Budget issued a set of ground rules to be followed in the coordination 

process. It established a permanent general philosophy for assignment and assessment of agency 

roles in the field of meteorology and set certain goals to be achieved by the coordination process. 

The Bureau of the Budget tasked the Department of Commerce (DOC) to establish the 

coordinating mechanism in concert with the other Federal agencies. It also reaffirmed the 

concept of having a central agency—the DOC—responsible for providing common 

meteorological facilities and services and clarified the responsibilities of other agencies for 

providing meteorological services specific to their mandated missions. 

The implementation of these directives by DOC led to the creation of the OFCM and the 

appointment of the first Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research (the Federal Coordinator). The Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research (FCMSSR) was established in 1964 to provide policy-level agency 

representation and guidance to the Federal Coordinator in addressing agency priorities, 

The mission of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research (OFCM) is to ensure the effective use of Federal meteorological resources by leading the 

systematic coordination of operational weather requirements, services, and supporting research among 

the Federal agencies. Its high-level focus includes cross-agency needs and requirements, issues and 

problems, studies, reports, plans, handbooks, and crosscut reviews, assessments, and analyses. 

The OFCM operates with policy guidance from the Federal Committee for Meteorological Services 

and Supporting Research (FCMSSR). The principal work in coordinating meteorological activities 

and in the preparation and maintenance of OFCM reports, plans, and other documents is accomplished 

by the OFCM staff with the advice and assistance of the Interdepartmental Committee for 

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (ICMSSR) and more than 30 program councils, 

committees, working groups, and joint action groups. The members who serve on these entities are 

Federal agency representatives. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

requirements, and issues related to services, operations, and supporting research. The FCMSSR 

also resolves agency differences that arise during the coordination of meteorological activities 

and the preparation of Federal plans. 

The FCMSSR comprises representatives of the 15 Federal agencies that engage in 

meteorological activities or supporting research, have a major need for meteorological services, 

or set policy and direction for such services and research. These 15 agencies are the Departments 

of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce (DOC), Defense (DOD), Energy (DOE), Homeland Security 

(DHS), the Interior (DOI), State (DOS), and Transportation (DOT); the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National 

Science Foundation (NSF), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC); and OMB and the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

(OSTP). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, who is also the 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), serves as the 

FCMSSR Chairperson. The full membership of the FCMSSR is shown on the inside cover of this 

Federal Plan. 

OFCM COORDINATING INFRASTRUCTURE 

The OFCM Coordinating Infrastructure Diagram, on page 2-5, shows the current infrastructure 

of program councils, committees, working groups (WG), and joint action groups (JAG) through 

which the OFCM carries out its mission of ensuring the effective use of Federal meteorological 

resources by coordinating operational weather requirements, services, and supporting research 

among the Federal agencies. The FCMSSR is shown at the top of the diagram, as the policy 

guidance advisor to the Federal Coordinator. 

 The Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research (ICMSSR), which is chaired by the Federal Coordinator, is the primary 

program management body of the Federal coordinating structure. ICMSSR provides 

advice to the OFCM, implements FCMSSR policies, and oversees the committees and 

working groups that address observing systems, weather operations and services, 

operational processing centers, and automated weather information systems. The full 

membership of ICMSSR is shown on the inside cover of this Federal Plan.

 The Program Councils, which are directly under the FCMSSR and are each chaired by 

the Federal Coordinator, coordinate key programs at the highest interagency policy 

decision-making level, and ensure that the programs meet joint requirements. In addition 

to establishing policy, the program councils coordinate development and oversee the 

preparation and implementation of national program plans, which include research and 

development (R&D), systems development, validation and integration, acquisition 

strategy, operational concepts, agency roles, and management. 

 The Committees and their Working Groups and Joint Action Groups operate at the 

program and working levels to provide: (1) a forum for each agency to report activities, 

difficulties, and achievements; (2) a mechanism for coordinated change and problem 

solving; (3) a medium for collection, documentation, and consolidation of agency 

requirements and inventories; (4) oversight for coordinated system development; (5) a 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

vehicle for coordinating with other groups; and (6) a mechanism for the preparation of 

studies, agreements, standards, protocols, reports, and national plans. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

Using these multiagency entities, the OFCM pursues the following objectives as the means for 

achieving its mission: 

 Document agency programs and activities in a series of national plans and reports that 

enable agencies to adjust their individual ongoing programs and provide a means for 

communicating new ideas and approaches to fulfill requirements. 

 Provide structure and programs to promote continuity in the development and 

coordination of interagency plans and procedures for meteorological services and 

supporting research activities. 

 Prepare analyses, summaries, or evaluations of agency meteorological programs and 

plans that provide a factual basis for the executive and legislative branches to make 

appropriate decisions related to the allocation of funds. 

 Review Federal weather programs and Federal requirements for meteorological services 

and supporting research. This review may suggest additions or revisions to current or 

proposed programs, or identify opportunities for improved efficiency, reliability, or cost 

avoidance through coordinated actions or integrated programs. 

OFCM HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012 AND PLANS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 

Federal coordination activities during FY 2012 and plans for FY 2013 are discussed here under 

the Program Council or ICMSSR standing committee that provided oversight of the associated 

working group or joint action group. 

Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act 2012 

On June 29, 2012, Congress passed the Federal highway conference bill which was then signed 

into law by the President on 6 July. The bill included legislation to establish the Consumer 

Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act. The COASTAL Act is 

intended to lower costs to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by better discerning 

wind versus storm surge damages in the case of “clean slabs,” where little tangible evidence 

beyond a building’s foundation remains for the proper adjustment of insurance claims for homes 

totally destroyed by a hurricane or tropical storm. This will enable a more timely claims 

adjustment process which has frequently faced excessive delays due to litigation between the 

Federal government and private insurers, resulting from an inability to determine to what extent 

the damage should be covered by the NFIP or by private insurers covering wind damage. 

Under the new law, NOAA is required to produce detailed post-storm analyses following named 

storms that impact the coastal zone of the U.S. These analyses are then required to be submitted 

to DHS/FEMA within 90 days. NOAA is required to make all data and post-storm assessments 

available to the public and to maintain an online database. The database and post-storm model 

are mandated to be operational by Dec. 28, 2013 (540 days after enactment). 

As defined in the COASTAL Act language, NOAA, in consultation with the OFCM, is required 

to provide several interim deliverables to Congress, including an assessment of current 

capabilities and needs to provide the required post-storm analyses. The OFCM is working 

closely with the NOAA Legislative Liaison and members from the Line Offices to link NOAA’s 

efforts with the interagency resources coordinated through the OFCM. The OFCM is leveraging 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

its interagency coordinating infrastructure, including the Working Group for Disaster Impact 

Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water Data (WG/DIAP), for this effort. Additionally, the 

OFCM has reached out to other agencies not currently engaged on the WG/DIAP, including NSF 

and NASA and has developed a COASTAL Act Project Work Plan to guide the interagency 

effort. 

On September 11, 2012, the WG/DIAP met to discuss the project work plan and agreed to 

establish the Joint Action Group for the COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis (JAG/CAPSA) to 

implement the plan. The new JAG will be co-chaired by the USGS, US Army Corps of 

Engineers, and a senior manager from NOAA-NWS. In all, about 30 people from a dozen 

organizations participated in the kick-off meeting. 

National Earth Observations Assessment 

The OFCM has been an active and lead participant in several phases of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy (OSTP)-sponsored National Earth Observations Assessment. This assessment 

is in response to Congressional direction to the OSTP Director to develop a national observing 

system portfolio organized around 13 Societal Benefit Areas (SBA). This observing system 

portfolio has two components: (1) a baseline assessment of current Earth observation systems, 

networks, and platforms and (2) a recommended portfolio (of required current, planned, and new 

capabilities) for the next 10 years. The assessment also identified data gaps, new technologies, 

and research to address current gaps and emerging observing needs. The OFCM led a team of 

NOAA subject matter experts in the assessment process for the weather SBA and supports the 

assessment working group. See the report under the National Space Weather Program Council 

for more on OFCM involvement in this initiative. 

National Aviation Weather Program Council 

The OFCM supports implementation of the National Aviation Weather Program, which is a 

broad interagency effort to advance meteorological standards, improve products, enhance 

services, and conduct research that contributes to the overall goal of providing the best state-ofthe-art information to aviation end users where and when they need it. The OFCM also 

participates in the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Weather Working 

Group (NWWG) and the Friends/Partners in Aviation Weather (FPAW). 

The Committee for Aviation Services and Research (CASR) made significant strides toward 

developing a NextGen Weather Research and Development Roadmap that will provide a plan for 

meeting 4D Weather Data Cube content requirements for the NextGen Mid-term Operational 

Capability (MOC) in 2018. Leveraging National Weather Service (NWS) work that was already 

underway, CASR surveyed the agencies to discover and catalog the aviation weather-related 

R&D that was underway or planned and then applied the various FAA requirements documents 

to formulate a plan for moving forward, involving a phased approach with science aspects being 

addressed first, followed by infrastructure considerations. To address the over 1500 individual 

requirements, CASR grouped them by “service areas” and is forming JAGs to address each area. 

JAGs were established sequentially to manage workload, with turbulence being addressed first. 

This work will continue into 2013. The CASR will consolidate the input from the JAGs into a 

comprehensive science plan, after which information from the JAGs will be used to address 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

infrastructure gaps. The CASR will also make a concerted effort, in cooperation with the 

NextGen Joint Planning and Development Office, to determine and catalog the aviation weatherrelated research being performed by industry. 

The CASR tracked the work underway on the FAA Research Evolution Planning initiative, and 

the OFCM participated in that effort. 

The National Aviation Weather Program Council met in 2012 to review CASR’s work on the 

R&D plan and will continue to track that work going forward. 

Aviation weather-related work by the OFCM on the Pilot Report (PIREP) code is included later 

in this section under the Committee for Environmental Information Systems and 

Communications. 

National Operational Processing Centers Program Council 

During FY 2012, the OFCM continued to organize and lead the National Operations Processing 

Centers Program Council (NOPC). The NOPC is the umbrella organization for the Committee 

for Operational Processing Centers (COPC). As such, the NOPC facilitates improved 

collaboration among the NOPC organizations which have direct oversight of the COPC-member 

offices. The NOPC organizations include: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA)/National Weather Service (NWS), the NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, 

and Information Service (NESDIS), the U.S. Navy (Navy Meteorology and Oceanography 

Command), and the U.S. Air Force (Directorate of Weather). The NOPC Principals set policy; 

provide strategic vision, planning, program guidance, and interagency funding authority; identify 

future roadmap capabilities for their own agencies; determine how to effectively position 

themselves for future requirements and collaboration; and identify coordinated approaches to 

solving the Nation’s highest priority environmental information needs. 

Meetings of the NOPC were held on January 18, 2012, and June 13, 2012. The meetings 

provided a platform for discussing and/or prioritizing (1) OPC resources, (2) new and existing 

requirements, (3) updates on satellites programs, (4) a Federally-sanctioned, inter-NOPC 

partnership, and (4) a communications network for meteorological and oceanographic data 

exchange. The meetings also facilitated knowledge of (and resulting interagency interest in) 

partnership proposals between research facilities and OPCs. 

At these meetings, the NOPC Principals also recognized the value of basic research related to 

modeling and data assimilation. As a result, the OFCM utilized its coordinating infrastructure to 

advance NSF’s efforts, along with NOPC-member organizations and other interested agencies, to 

define key focus areas to launch a program similar to NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement 

Program to address national needs and priorities relative to NOPC organizations. Additionally, 

the OFCM continued coordinating NSF to expand (1) the NSF-NOAA Visiting Scientist (2) the 

university-based ensemble, and (3) the NSF Science, Engineering, and Education for 

Sustainability–Creating a More Disaster Resilient America programs to other NOPC-member 

organizations. At each NOPC meeting, NESDIS provided routine Joint Polar Satellite System 

Program updates. Other topics; such as, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Follow2-8
Federal Coordination and Planning 

on and the Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet) Federated Gateway are 

included on the NOPC agenda as interest or events dictate. 

Committee for Operational Processing Centers 

In FY 2012, the OFCM continued to host the Committee for Operational Processing Centers 

(COPC) to facilitate improved processing and backup capabilities for NOAA’s National Centers 

for Environmental Prediction and Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution, the Air 

Force Weather Agency, and the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography 

Center and Naval Oceanographic Office. COPC hosted a successful Observational Data 

Workshop (ODW) in FY 2012, helping set the stage for a concentrated effort to improve the 

assimilation of data into our numerical weather prediction models. During the two-day 

workshop, representatives of the national operational processing centers and other national data 

centers discussed their environmental data needs and the use of those data in analysis and 

prediction. Additionally, the COPC substructure completed an upgrade to the COPC Network 

that will allow for increased capacity and stage the NOAA portion of the network to connect to 

the future NIPRNet Federated Gateway (NFG). 

During FY 2013, activities under COPC’s Working Group for Cooperative Support and Backup 

will include the work of three joint action groups. The Joint Action Group for Operational 

Community Modeling (JAG/OCM) will work to enhance the implementation of ensemble efforts 

among the centers and expand coordination for ocean modeling implementation. The Joint 

Action Group for Centralized Communications Management (JAG/CCM) will work to connect 

the COPC Network through the NFG to mitigate the operational impacts on the exchange of data 

between the operational processing centers. The Joint Action Group for Operational Data 

Acquisition for Assimilation (JAG/ODAA) will address the follow-on efforts that came out of 

the ODW. 

National Space Weather Program Council 

Over the past year, the Federal agencies engaged in the National Space Weather Program 

Council (NSWP) have been working to establish closer coordination in providing space weather 

science, research, and services to our Nation. The NSWP agencies have agreed to enter into a 

more formal relationship to establish the Unified National Space Weather Capability (UNSWC) 

which is seeking to achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of space 

weather services, research, and technology to our customers and stakeholders. The UNSWC 

agreement was established by an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the 

five agencies in order to more effectively implement planning, programming, budgeting, and 

execution of interagency initiatives. The UNSWC is the product of interagency coordination

among all nine NSWP partners that participate and contribute to the UNSWC in various ways. 

One of the early achievements of the UNSWC initiative has been the launch of a new internet 

website called the National Space Weather Portal (www.spaceweather.gov/portal). The ‘portal’ 

provides one-stop access to all space weather services and supporting research activities 

provided by the Federal government. Additionally, the portal will serve as the internationally 

recognized entry point to U.S. space weather support and services, encompassing the ongoing 

contributions of the NSWP member agencies. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

In April 2012, the NSWP provided OSTP an update to the report entitled, Space Weather 

Observing Systems: Current Capabilities and Requirements for the Next Decade. This analysis 

and report provided an interagency-approved comprehensive architecture for current and future 

space weather observing capabilities. Findings and recommendations contained in the report will 

help inform the President’s budget and respond to congressional interest. The results from this 

report were subsequently used as input to the OSTP National Earth Observing Task Force (NEO 

TF) Space Weather SBA. A working group of space weather subject matter experts from the 

NSWP agencies performed a careful translation and reanalysis of the NSWP report data into the 

NEO TF assessment model. 

In June 2012, the National Space Weather Program Council, through the OFCM, sponsored, 

planned, and hosted the annual Space Weather Enterprise Forum (SWEF) to share information 

among Federal agency stakeholders and extend education and outreach to a wider community. 

The 2012 SWEF brought together about 200 experts and stakeholders from government, science, 

and industry, including international participants. Media coverage and outreach raised awareness 

of space weather and its effects—the first step in creating a more resilient society and economy. 

Executive Council for Multifunction Phased Array Radar 

The Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) initiative seeks to consolidate the radar 

surveillance missions of four agencies: DOD, DHS, DOC/NOAA, and DOT/Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), reducing the number of radars required and consolidating operations and 

logistics. MPAR risk-reduction targets: (1) significantly reducing the cost of phased array 

technology, (2) validating the capability for one radar design to simultaneously meet the needs of 

four agencies, and (3) implementing dual polarization on a phased array system. 

MPAR risk reduction is driven by the report, Federal Research and Development Needs and 

Priorities for Phased Array Radar, published by the OFCM in 2006. This report included a 

research and development plan, a siting study, and early cost estimates. 

The National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT, the SPY-1 phased array radar at NOAA’s 

National Severe Storm Laboratory) has demonstrated the effectiveness of phased array radar in 

detecting and tracking weather and the advantages of rapid updates in early identification of 

severe weather signatures. While there is still more to learn from the NWRT, that radar’s legacy 

passive array technology has serious limitations, and meaningful upgrades would involve 

essentially replacing the radar. In 2010, the MPAR Executive Council recommended that work 

proceed on an FAA/NOAA technology collaboration that could lead to a new-technology dualpolarization antenna, while continued consideration was given to a proposal to modify an Army 

EQ-36 transportable radar for dual polarization. These two initiatives would address the two 

major components of the 2011 MPAR Unified R&D Plan: Technology Development and Test 

and Proof of Operational Concepts, respectively. 

The FAA/NOAA collaboration has evolved into FAA’s NextGen Surveillance and Weather 

Radar Capability (NSWRC)—the FAA’s program to replace terminal weather and air 

surveillance radars. With help from NOAA funding, the 2006 siting and cost studies have been 

updated and a spectrum study was completed. The program has also awarded a dual-polarization 

implementation study, released an RFI for an antenna study (which involved developing notional 

requirements for all MPAR missions), and plans to award an antenna study contract with a 

performance period starting in early 2013. The Working Group for MPAR has tracked the work 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

on this program, served as a source for resources to participate in the NSWRC Government 

Engineering Team, and functioned as sounding board for agency input. 

At its November 7, 2011, meeting the MPAR Executive Council considered several aspects of 

the EQ-36 modification initiative, for which the vendor had provided a notional cost and 

schedule proposal. The potential for multi-agency support for the effort would be enhanced by 

adding surveillance (i.e., non-weather) investigations to the field experiment portfolio, and those 

opportunities are under consideration. 

The OFCM continued to participate in Integrated Surveillance (IS) and Air Domain Awareness 

(ADA) activities. The IS involvement focused on enhancing MPAR visibility in the IS planning 

process and included participating in IS technical interchange meetings and reviewing seminal 

documentation produced by the fledgling Integrated Surveillance Support Office. OFCM 

involvement in ADA is broader. The Federal Coordinator serves as the Department of 

Commerce (DOC) representative on the ADA Board, where he works with the other agencies to 

institutionalize Air Domain Awareness as an effective interagency collaboration and secures 

DOC equities. 

Crosscutting Activities under the ICMSSR 

OFCM activities described under this heading are relevant to two or more of ICMSSR standing 

committees (see Figure 2-OFCM-1) or are overseen directly by ICMSSR. 

Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and Research and Interdepartmental 

Hurricane Conference 

The ICMSSR Standing Committee on Environmental Services, Operations, and Research Needs 

(CESORN) oversees the Working Group for Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and 

Research (WG/HWSOR). 

Both civilian and military organizations comprise the multi-agency national tropical cyclone 

forecasting and warning system of which the National Hurricane Operations Plan (NHOP) is a 

key document. The WG/HWSOR is responsible for the document. This year marked the 50th

edition of the NHOP. The working group incorporated new procedures, agreements, and 

changes, including a major update to aircraft reconnaissance procedures. The updated plan was 

published prior to the 2012 hurricane season and documented the interdepartmental effort to 

provide the United States and designated international recipients with forecasts, warnings, and 

assessments concerning tropical and subtropical weather systems. 

The WG/HWSOR is also the lead for the National Winter Storms Operations Plan (NWSOP). 

The working group identified editorial changes to be incorporated into the plan. The updated 

NWSOP was published prior to the start of the 2012-2013 winter-storm season. 

Each year, the OFCM hosts an Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference (IHC) to provide a 

forum for the Federal agencies responsible for hurricane operations and/or supporting research 

and development, together with representatives of user communities, to prepare for the upcoming 

hurricane season and to make improvements to the Nation's hurricane forecasting and warning 

program. The 66th IHC was held in Charleston, SC, from March 5-8, 2012. The theme was 

Tropical Cyclone Operations & Research: Strength and Success through Partnerships and 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

Alliances. With strong partnerships built over many years, 192 personnel attended, including 

representatives from eight Federal agencies: DHS/FEMA, DOC/NOAA/NIST, DOD/Navy/Air 

Force/Army Corps of Engineers, DOI/USGS, DOT/FAA, NASA, NSF, and USDA. Attendees 

also included representatives from academia, private industry, and the media. Key takeaways 

from the conference included: 

 Heightened emphasis on tropical cyclone partnerships and alliances with ongoing 

collaborative efforts has proven vital in today’s budget constrained environment. 

Partnership between the Air Force Reserve Command’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance 

Squadron (53 WRS) and the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) is key to the 

provision of tropical cyclone reconnaissance data to the tropical cyclone operational 

centers (principally the National Hurricane Center) and research agencies. 

 Integrated ensemble and satellite microwave data led to a 10-20 percent improvement in 

rapid intensification forecast skill. 

 Significant progress occurred in data assimilation and global and regional model 

development. For example, the Navy’s COAMPS-TC research model shows promise in 

better forecasting tropical cyclone intensity. 

 Successful research to operations efforts include the Joint Hurricane Testbed’s transition 

of nearly half the 74 projects to operations from 2001-2011, and NOAA’s Hurricane 

Forecast Improvement Program’s (HFIP) establishment of a research to operations 

framework to accelerate transitions. 

 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is a promising technology for improving tropical 

cyclone operations and research. NASA will employ two Global Hawk UASs in this 

year’s Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) experiment. 

 Better visual displays of storm surge forecast products that include integration of 

ensemble models and techniques, and increased coordination among agencies (including 

social scientists) with added focus on feedback from emergency managers and the public 

are needed. 

Committee on Environmental Services, Operations, and Research Needs 

CESORN covers a wide range of basic meteorological services and supporting research. Areas 

for coordination vary from year to year based on agency interests and needs. 

Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water Data 

Data relevant to disasters acquired from the many observing systems often do not provide data 

coverage sufficient to adequately document the impacts of a major storm or flood or enable 

understanding of small-scale, localized processes. As a result, conventional observations are 

supplemented by post-storm surveys and studies of impact features such as flood marks and wind 

damage to fill information gaps and obtain more complete spatial coverage. These efforts 

contribute to the determination of the intensity and magnitude of storms and may support 

Presidential disaster declarations. They may also be used to validate emergency management and 

hurricane storm surge models, update FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, revise building 

materials and construction standards, and improve forecasting models. Further, the National 

Institute of Science and Technology and various state agencies use the data for purposes such as 

improving building codes and construction practices. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

To improve the efficiency of agency data collection efforts and promote sharing of data within 

an organized, interagency disaster impact assessment process, the Federal Coordinator 

established the Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water 

Data (WG/DIAP) in 2010. Tasked to update the 2003 National Post-Storm Data Acquisition 

Plan, the WG/DIAP published the National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and 

Water Data (NPDIA) in October 2010. The new plan documents the types of data required, the 

acquisition processes, and the coordinating procedures to be used leading up to, during, and 

following a significant storm event. 

Using this plan in the days leading up to and after the landfall of Hurricane Isaac, there was 

remarkable response and coordination across the membership of the WG/DIAP. Participating 

Federal and academic teams deployed mobile sensors and instrumentation for collecting wind, 

storm surge, and other water level and wave data. 

In FY 2013, the OFCM will continue to coordinate post-storm data acquisition surveys in 

response to natural disasters and agency requirements, including aerial support from the Civil Air 

Patrol (CAP). Under a three-year Memorandum of Agreement and an FY 2013 funding 

agreement between the OFCM and the U.S. Air Force for reimbursable support, the CAP will fly 

missions in support of glacial lake damming assessments in Alaska, tornado damage 

assessments, and severe flooding. 

Urban Meteorology and Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion R&D 

On July 17, 2012, the OFCM cosponsored a session within the 16th annual George Mason 

University Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion Modeling Conference. The theme of the session 

was Identifying the Research Needs and Current/Planned Research Projects within the 

Operational and Research Planetary Boundary Layer Interagency Community. Subject matter 

experts (SME) from NOAA/NWS, DOE, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research 

(NCAR) participated in the session’s panel discussion. The SMEs identified the following areas 

as operational and research priorities/requirements: 

 Transitioning from planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes to large-scale eddy 

simulation. 

 Separating out waves from turbulence and understanding when and how to simulate 

internal waves degenerating into turbulence. 

 Treating stable boundary layers and unstable boundary layers as separate and distinct 

entities. 

 Increasing the capacity to observe heterogeneous boundary layers and to use these 

observations to improve data assimilation. 

 Dealing with terrain (in all its variations) in a more appropriate way. 

 Conducting a coordinated, joint field program to address the priorities/requirements listed 

above. 

The Federal Coordinator plans to bring the results of the successful forum to the attention of the 

broader interagency scientific community with the goal of eliciting how best to proceed in 

meeting the operational and research requirements articulated at the special session. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

Committee for Integrated Observing Systems 

The Federal meteorological community embarked on a significant new initiative for climate 

observing networks in FY 2009 in response to growing interest in climate trends and the 2009 

publication of a National Research Council (NRC) report, cosponsored by the OFCM, entitled 

Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground Up—A Nationwide Network of Networks. In 

brief, the theme of this report was that the United States enjoys an effective synoptic-scale 

weather observing network, but society demands increasingly finer-scale weather and climate 

information to meet urgent needs such as predictions of atmospheric dispersion of chemical, 

biological, and radiological hazards from accidental releases or terrorist acts and severe weather 

warnings and nowcasts for urban communities. At the same time, spurred by inexpensive 

electronics and increasingly higher-bandwidth communications, state and local governments, 

corporations, academic institutions, and individuals have deployed a rapidly growing array of 

individual sensors and sensor networks in patchwork fashion across the country. Much of the 

data from these systems remain unknown or inaccessible to a wider audience of potential users. 

The Committee for Integrated Observing Systems (CIOS) provided the venue for responding to 

this report and is tracking a similar enterprise-wide effort led by the American Meteorological 

Society (AMS). Under the designation Network of Weather and Climate Observing Networks 

(NOWCON), much of the early work focused on the need to standardize metadata, and CIOS 

convened the Joint Action Group on Metadata, which studied the issue jointly with a similar 

AMS working group and jointly recommended a metadata standard for CIOS consideration. 

CIOS broadened their focus in 2012 to look at upcoming GOES-R data, consider NWS 

observing requirements, and review issues related to observations tailored for climate 

applications. In a related activity, a poster entitled Federal Cooperation Toward a Network of 

Weather and Climate and Weather Observing Networks was presented at the American 

Geophysical Union fall meeting. The poster showed the relationship between the AMS efforts in 

the area, CIOS work, and the National Earth Observation Task Force initiative and how the 

combination of these projects should result in high-density surface weather observations 

discoverable and accessible from a distributed database. 

Work began in 2012 on an update to Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1, Surface Weather 

Observations and Reports to take advantage of enhanced capabilities of new instrumentation and 

to incorporate other changes that have been awaiting implementation. This work will continue 

into FY 2013. In addition, Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 11, Doppler Radar 

Meteorological Observations, is being updated and will undergo editorial review by the OFCM 

prior to publication in 2013. 

Unmanned Aerial Systems 

Building on the successful Exploratory Mini-workshop on the Utilization of UAS for 

Environmental Monitoring conducted in February 4, 2011, the OFCM continued to make 

progress on UAS development and exploitation plans. At the December 16, 2011, ICMSSR 

meeting, the NOAA Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Program Office presented a briefing on 

their current efforts to develop UAS capabilities to supplement NOAA’s aircraft and satellite 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

observing platforms. This generated an action item to create an interagency approach to UAS 

development and utilization for environmental monitoring. 

Additionally, the OFCM continues to support the activities of the OSTP Subcommittee for 

Unmanned Systems (SUS) under the Ocean Science and Technology Committee, which is part 

of the National Science and Technology Council structure. The OFCM’s participation ensures 

that the SUS is well connected to the meteorological research and service providers and ensures 

effective coordination across the Federal meteorological enterprise to achieve maximum 

synergy. 

NOAA and NASA have an active partnership for developing and using UAS for weather and 

climate research campaigns for tropical cyclone, arctic, and other missions. The NOAA UAS 

Program is working to determine how and when UAS platforms can begin to augment its fleet of 

manned aircraft for both operational and research missions. NASA’s Hurricane and Severe 

Storm Sentinel (HS3) experiment relies heavily on UASs. 

Committee on Cooperative Research 

Tropical Cyclone Research 

For additional information on tropical cyclone research, see Working Group for Hurricane and 

Winter Storms Operations and Research and Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference under 

Crosscutting Activities under the ICMSSR. 

In 2007, the Joint Action Group for Tropical Cyclone Research completed the Interagency 

Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones: The Way Ahead. This plan presented a common 

set of R&D priorities that were matched to operational requirements from the tropical cyclone 

forecast and warning centers. These priorities served as the baseline for NOAA’s Hurricane 

Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP). In 2008 and 2010, the Working Group for Tropical 

Cyclone Research (WG/TCR) assessed agency research efforts mapped against tropical cyclone 

research needs and operational priorities. Through these assessments, the WG/TCR has 

established a successful process to: 

 Keep the operational priorities updated. 

 Assess and evaluate how research is contributing to meeting those priorities. 

 Allow research managers to make informed decisions on future investments. 

 Facilitate interagency collaboration and coordination. 

During 2013, the WG/TCR will focus on completing the next assessment to be presented at the 

67th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference (IHC). The working group will also prepare 

responses to requests posed during the 66th IHC, where the working group was asked to explore 

options to mitigate impacts on tropical cyclone forecasts from a potential loss of satellite 

microwave imager information, and to explore how to best leverage ongoing modeling and 

ensemble activities to improve tropical cyclone forecasts. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

Weather Information for Surface Transportation 

The OFCM continued to explore weather services and research and development (R&D) 

activities supporting the surface transportation community, building on its earlier publication, 

Weather Information for Surface Transportation--National Needs Assessment Report. During FY 

2012, the OFCM participated in the annual meeting of the Federal Highway Administration’s 

(FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) and continued to support activities 

related to weather information and intelligent transportation systems. For FY 2013, activities 

include exploring planetary boundary layer forecast advances as well as coordinating with the 

OFCM CIOS on observing systems and activities related to improving surface transportation 

capabilities. 

Committee on Environmental Information Systems and Communications 

FY 2013 activities planned for the Committee on Environmental Information Systems and 

Communications (CEISC) include continuing coordination among the agencies, regarding 

developing standards for environmental information. CEISC and the OFCM will work to assist 

in coordinating standards from the CIOS NOWCON initiative and work with the COPC to 

increase the sharing of international environmental data. 

Meteorological Codes 

During FY 2012, the OFCM completed coordination of an update to the PIREP code and 

published Change 2 to Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 12, United States Meteorological 

Codes and Coding Practices. This change, which codified reporting the smell of sulfur dioxide 

associated with volcanic eruptions, did not require coding change and was published on a fast 

track to allow for early implementation. Coordination was also completed on Change 3, which 

addressed several other issues requiring updates. Change 3 will be implemented in FY 2013 to 

allow the longer lead time necessary for coding changes prior to implementation. 

Work began on drafting a change to Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1, Surface Weather 

Observations and Reports, which will be coordinated under CIOS. The effort will likely require 

some code changes and will continue into FY 2013. 

OFCM External Collaborations 

NAS/NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate 

The OFCM continues its mutually beneficial interactions with the National Academies’ National 

Research Council (NRC). The Federal Coordinator participates in NRC Board on Atmospheric 

Sciences and Climate (BASC) strategic planning workshops, and he attends regularly scheduled 

meetings. 

Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability 

Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability Principals. The Federal 

Coordinator serves as a member of Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and 

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Federal Coordination and Planning 

Sustainability (CENRS), a committee of the National Science and Technology Council, and the 

OFCM participates in the work of the CENRS Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (SDR). 

American Meteorological Society 

The OFCM supports AMS activities by participating in AMS conferences and workshops and 

other environmental science education and outreach programs. In FY 2012, the OFCM presented 

two papers at the 92nd AMS Annual Meeting and will be involved in two presentations at the 93rd

meeting in 2013. 

FY 2012 OFCM PUBLICATIONS 

The publications listed in the table below were prepared in hard copy and/or were added to the 

OFCM’s web site (www.ofcm.gov) during FY 2012. 

 

OFCM PUBLICATION DATE NUMBER 

PLANS

National Hurricane Operations Plan 

 WSR-88D Operations Plan for Tropical Cyclone Events 

o 2012 RPG Software Build 12 Systems (05/14/2012) 

 Operations Plan Without Dual Polarization 

 Operations Plan With Dual Polarization 

o 2012 RPG Software Build 13 Systems (07/11/2012) 

 Operations Plan With Dual Polarization 

May 2012 FCM-P12-2012 

National Winter Storms Operations Plan October 2012 FCM-P13-2012 

Federal Plan for Cooperative Support and Backup Among 

Operational Processing Centers 

January 2012 FCM-P14-2012 

REPORTS

Summary Report of the National Operational Processing Centers 

Observational Data Workshops 

May 2012 FCM-R35-2012 

HANDBOOKS

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 12 - United States 

Meteorological Codes and Coding Practices 

(with: Change No. 1 - effective September 2006 

 Change No. 2 - effective July 2012) 

December 1998 FCM-H12-1998 

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Basic Services 

BASIC SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service 

(NWS) provides climate, water, and weather warnings and forecasts for the United States, its 

territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas to help protect life and property and enhance the 

national economy. These services are provided through 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), 13 

River Forecast Centers (RFC), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). 

These offices collect data, prepare local warnings and forecasts, and disseminate information to 

the public, both nationally and internationally, through NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), satellitebased telecommunication systems, radiofacsimile, the media, and the internet. NWS forecasters 

issue short-duration watches and warnings for severe weather, such as tornadoes and severe 

thunderstorms, as well as long-duration watches, warnings, and advisories for hazardous winter 

weather conditions, high wind events, dense fog, and extreme temperatures. 

The NWS uses surveillance and data collection technologies such as a national network of 

Doppler weather radars, satellites operated by NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, 

and Information Service (NESDIS), aircraft observations, data buoys for marine observations 

and tsunami detection, surface observing systems for the safe operation of airports, and weather 

balloons to obtain vertical measurements of the atmosphere. Some observations are obtained 

through the Cooperative Observer Program, which is a nationwide network of volunteer-operated 

weather observing sites. Many other observations are contributed through arrangements with 

publicly and privately operated networks. Observations feed sophisticated environmental 

prediction models running on high performance supercomputers, which provide weather, water, 

climate, ocean and space weather forecast guidance that are available to all users. The NWS’ 

highly trained and skilled workforce uses powerful workstations to analyze all of these data to 

issue forecasts and warnings around the clock. A high-speed communications hub allows for the 

efficient exchange of these data and products among NWS components, partners, and other 

users. NWS forecasts and warnings are rapidly distributed via a diverse dissemination 

infrastructure including NOAA Weather Radio, satellite broadcast, and the Internet. 

The NWS creates forecasts in digital formats and makes them readily available. Forecasters use 

their expertise to maintain an up-to-date digital forecast database of weather elements. This 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Basic Services include the basic meteorological service system, to 

include observations, public weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and advisories, and the 

meteorological satellite activities of NOAA. Basic Services also include the operations and supporting 

research of other Federal agencies that have been identified as contributing to basic meteorological 

services. 

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information is stored in the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Output from the NDFD 

is publicly available in the form of web graphics on the Internet and in several other digital 

formats. Outreach, education, and feedback are also critical elements in effective public response 

and improvements to NWS services. 

NCEP consists of nine national centers that provide a backbone of national expertise for both 

forecast capabilities and numerical guidance. The NCEP Storm Prediction Center (SPC) provides 

forecasts and watches for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the contiguous United States. 

The SPC also monitors heavy rain, heavy snow, and provides national outlooks on fire weather 

potential. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) monitors the tropical North Atlantic, Caribbean, 

Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific for the development and prediction of tropical cyclones and 

provides educational outreach and guidance for the international community in the region. While 

not part of NCEP, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (Honolulu) and the Joint Typhoon 

Warning Center (Guam) provide additional tropical cyclone coverage for the central and western 

Pacific. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) provides analyses and forecast 

products with a focus on precipitation amount and type, winter precipitation, model diagnostics, 

surface pressure and frontal analysis. The Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), along with a 

component of NHC, issues marine forecasts for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from the equator 

to the northern polar regions. The Aviation Weather Center (AWC) provides aviation warnings 

and forecasts of hazardous flight conditions at all levels within domestic and international air 

space. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) provides climate prediction, monitoring, and 

diagnostic products for timescales from weeks to years to the Nation and the global community 

for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the economy. The Space Weather 

Prediction Center (SWPC) provides space weather alerts and warnings for disturbances that can 

affect people and equipment working in space and on Earth. The Environmental Modeling 

Center (EMC) and NCEP Central Operations develop, maintain, and execute a suite of numerical 

analysis and forecast models. 

There are other specialized service centers within the NWS, such as the Pacific Tsunami 

Warning Center (PTWC) and the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC), 

which use data from deep water buoys located throughout the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and 

Caribbean Sea to issue tsunami watches and warnings for all U.S. and many international coastal

The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing 

System (AWIPS) is a technologically advanced 

information processing, display, and 

telecommunications system that is the 

cornerstone of the National Weather Service 

(NWS) modernization and restructuring. AWIPS 

is an interactive computer system that integrates 

all meteorological and hydrological data, and all 

satellite and radar data, for the first time, and 

enables the forecaster to prepare and issue 

more accurate and timely forecasts and 

warnings (NOAA Image)

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communities. The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) is responsible for the deployment and 

maintenance of coastal and ocean buoys and sensors that are used for marine forecasts and 

analysis of ocean-based storms. The NWS Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) located in 

Anchorage, Alaska, provides worldwide warnings and advisories to aviation interests regarding 

airborne volcanic ash hazards (see further description of the global system of VAACs in the 

section on volcanic ash in Aviation Services.) 

NWS forecasters support several health-related programs such as Heat Health, and the 

Ultraviolet Index. Heat Health Watch Warning Systems (HHWWS) have been developed for 

select cities to provide advance notice of excessive heat events that produce the greatest number 

of weather-related deaths.. 

NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service 

NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) operates 

the Nation’s civil operational environmental satellite system, making constant observations of 

the Earth and its oceans and atmosphere. Satellite observations are collected, processed, and used 

to develop weather, climate, ocean, and other environmental products, services, and long-term 

data records that benefit the American public. 

NOAA’s satellites include Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and 

Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). These two systems provide the U.S. 

component of a joint environmental monitoring system in partnership with the European 

Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). On behalf of the 

Department of Defense (DOD), NESDIS also operates the Defense Meteorological Satellite 

Program (DMSP) spacecraft, part of the military’s sixth generation of weather satellites. In 

addition, on behalf of the Department of Commerce, NESDIS licenses the operation of 

commercial remote-sensing land-imaging satellites. NESDIS also provides long-term 

stewardship of environmental data, managing the world’s largest collection of climatic, 

geophysical, and oceanographic data derived from both in situ and space-based systems. 

Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites 

POES circle the Earth in a nearly north-south orbit, passing close to both poles. These satellites 

ensure observational data for any region of the Earth are no more than six hours old. Data from 

POES support global weather forecasting models, long-term global climate change research, and 

hazard detection and mitigation. NESDIS operates five polar orbiters. The NOAA-15, NOAA16, NOAA-17, and NOAA-18 satellites continue to transmit data as back up and secondary 

satellites. Metop-A, a European environmental satellite with three instruments provided by 

NOAA, is the primary morning orbit satellite. Launched on February 6, 2009, NOAA-19 is the 

primary afternoon orbit satellite. NESDIS also manages the command, control, and 

communications functions of DOD’s DMSP. 

In addition, NOAA operates Jason-2, a joint U.S./European specialized polar-orbiting satellite. 

This spacecraft’s mission is to provide physical data of the ocean surface, including ocean 

surface altimetry, sea wave height, sea wave period, surface roughness, and others. This family 

of products is called the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), and is a follow-on to the 

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successful Jason-1 mission developed by the French Space Agency—Centre National d’Etudes 

Spatiales (CNES)—and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) 

JPSS is the next generation of Polar-Orbiting satellites scheduled to come online in FY 2017. 

NASA is the acquisition agent for the JPSS program. Whereas the USAF has several remaining 

DMSP polar-orbiting satellites available for launch over the next few years, NOAA launched its 

final polar-orbiting satellite in February 2009. 

Given that weather forecasters and climate scientists rely on data from NOAA’s current on-orbit 

assets, efforts to develop the first of the JPSS platforms will focus on ensuring both short- and 

long-term continuity in crucial climate and weather data. The NPOESS Preparatory Project 

(NPP) was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA on October 28, 2011. It 

is intended as a prototype of next-generation POES and is the highest priority for JPSS. NOAA 

and NASA have oversight of the ground system for NPP. In addition, these agencies have a 

strong partnership with Europe through EUMETSAT, which will continue to be a cornerstone of 

a joint polar-orbiting constellation and will ensure NOAA/NESDIS’s ability to provide 

continuous measurements. These changes to the POES program will ensure continuity of crucial 

civil climate and weather data in the future. Decisions on future satellite programs will be made 

to ensure the best plan for continuity of data. 

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) 

The GOES spacecraft, in contrast to the POES spacecraft, orbit the Earth in a geosynchronous 

orbit, which means they orbit the equatorial plane of the Earth at a speed matching the Earth’s 

rotation. The GOES system provides continuous observations of environmental conditions of 

North, Central, and South America and the surrounding oceans. These spacecraft provide data 

critical for fast, accurate weather forecasts and warnings, detection of solar storm activity, and 

relay of distress signals from emergency beacons. They provide nearly continuous monitoring 

necessary for effective, detailed, and extensive weather forecasting, prediction, and 

environmental monitoring 

There are two operational geostationary satellites for the North American region, GOES-East at 

75°W and GOES-West, at 135°W, plus an on-orbit spare satellite at 105°W. Each operational 

satellite continuously views nearly one-third of the Earth’s surface. GOES-P was launched on 

March 4, 2010, and was renamed GOES-15 once it was successfully on orbit. GOES-15 is the 

third and last in the current series of NOAA geostationary satellites. GOES-15 joins the current 

constellation of GOES-11 (West), GOES-13 (East), and GOES-14 (on-orbit spare). GOES-12 

provides coverage for South America. 

GOES Series R 

Geostationary satellites remain the weather sentinels for NOAA— tracking hurricanes, severe 

storms, clouds, land, and ocean features. The next-generation geostationary satellite series is 

called the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite–R Series (GOES-R). The advanced 

spacecraft and instrument technology used on the GOES-R series will result in more timely and 

accurate weather forecasts. It will improve support for the detection and observations of 

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meteorological phenomena and directly benefit public safety, protection of property, and 

ultimately, economic health and development. The GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) 

will scan its field of view on the Earth nearly five times faster, with more than three times the 

spectral coverage and four times the spatial resolution of the current GOES. GOES-R will 

provide users such as meteorologists and government agencies around the world with 

approximately 60 times the amount of data currently provided. A new instrument, the 

Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), will be capable of measuring total lightning activity 

continuously day and night with a horizontal resolution on the order of 10 km and detection 

efficiency ranging between 70-90%. 

To ensure user readiness, forecasters and other users must have access to prototype advanced 

products within their operational environment well before launch. The GOES-R Proving Ground 

(http://www.goes-r.gov/users/proving-ground.html) engages the National Weather Service 

(NWS) forecast, watch and warning community and other agency users in pre-operational 

demonstrations of the new and advanced capabilities to be available from GOES-R compared to 

the current GOES constellation. Examples of the advanced products include improved volcanic 

ash detection, lightning detection, 1-min interval rapid scan imagery, dust and aerosol detection, 

and synthetic cloud and moisture imagery. A key component of the GOES-R Proving Ground is 

the two-way interaction between the researchers who introduce new products and techniques and 

the forecasters who then provide feedback and ideas for improvements that can best be 

incorporated into NOAA’s integrated observing and analysis operations. 

GOES-R is a collaborative development and acquisition effort between NOAA and NASA. In 

FY 2013, the GOES-R program plans to continue instrument and spacecraft development to meet 

phased instrument delivery milestones which began in 2012. Both the Spacecraft Critical Design 

Review and the Ground Systems Critical Design Review are planned to meet the scheduled 2015 

launch date. 

NOAA/NESDIS Data Centers 

National Climatic Data Center 

The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the largest climate data center in the world. See 

Climate Services for additional details. 

National Geophysical Data Center 

NOAA’s National Geophysical Date Center (NGDC) provides scientific stewardship, products, 

and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial 

environments, as well as Earth observations from space. NGDC’s data holdings contain more 

than 400 digital and analog databases. Digital databases at NGDC include more than 20 million 

data records. As technology advances, so does the search for more efficient ways of preserving 

these data. NGDC works closely with contributors of scientific data to prepare documented, 

reliable data sets and continually develops data management programs that reflect the changing 

world of geophysics. Recent examples of NGDC’s work include the creation of digital elevation 

models of U.S. coastal communities for prediction of potential tsunami impacts, estimation of 

global emissions of natural gas associated with petroleum production, and support of a future

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submission for extended continental shelf boundaries under the United Nations Convention on 

the Law of the Sea. 

Natural Hazards Coastal Inundation Modeling and Mapping. Tsunamis are low-frequency, but 

high-impact, events that can cause a considerable number of fatalities, inflict major damage, and 

cause significant economic loss to large sections of the Nation’s coastline. Since 1900 more than 

200 tsunami events have affected the coasts of the United States and its territories, causing more 

than 500 deaths. To improve the tsunami forecast capability and mitigate the impacts of tsunami 

and other coastal flooding hazards, NGDC continues to develop high-resolution coastal digital 

elevation models (DEM) for inundation modeling and mapping. NGDC is also researching how 

variations in the DEM methodology affect the inundation model results and comparing these 

results to past tsunami event data. The purpose of the research is to better understand how 

different data processing methods affect DEM development and to use this knowledge to 

develop the most accurate coastal DEM generating inundation results validated by historical 

data. Emergency managers in coastal communities around the United States and its territories use 

DEMs and inundation modeling to guide evacuation planning. Improving DEMs will result in 

improved forecasts and improved inundation products supporting local community emergency 

managers and planners, thereby saving lives and money. 

Geomagnetic Field Modeling For Improved Navigation. The NGDC geomagnetism group 

develops and produces magnetic field models for navigation and pointing, which are used in a 

multitude of defense and civilian applications. Production of the World Magnetic Model, the 

standard magnetic model for DOD and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is sponsored by 

the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The geomagnetism group also leads the production 

and distribution of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field. These main magnetic field 

models represent approximately 90 percent of the magnetic field that influences a compass on or 

near the surface of the Earth. NGDC continues to develop improved magnetic models, 

addressing the additional magnetic influences affecting navigation by land, sea, and air. Making 

use of its extensive holdings of satellite, airborne, and marine magnetic data, NGDC is 

developing new high-resolution magnetic field models. Recent products include animations of 

the model results for the change in the magnetic field from 1590 to 2010, a three-arc-minute 

World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map, and the extended magnetic reference model to spherical 

harmonic degree 720 (NGDC-720). The NGDC-720 model corresponds to a 15-arc-minute 

model resolution. 

National Oceanographic Data Center 

The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) maintains the largest collection of publicly 

available oceanographic data and information in the world, including hundreds of millions of 

records gathered from ocean observation programs conducted over the past 150 years. These data 

document the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the oceans, currents, weather, and 

biota, as observed from ships, buoys, and satellites. NODC provides access to these data to more 

than 270,000 users each year, including ocean researchers within NOAA, other agencies, 

academia, environmental program managers, educators, maritime industries, and foreign 

communities. Examples of these products and special-topic data sets include the World Ocean 

Database, the Global Argo Data Repository, the Coral Reef Information System, and the Global 

Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment High-Resolution Sea-Surface Temperature Project. 

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Basic Services 

NODC’s National Coastal Data Development Center at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi 

provides central access to coastal environmental data from a wide variety of sources. 

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

The NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) operates a fleet of survey ships 

and aircraft to support NOAA’s mission goals. NOAA’s ship fleet includes oceanographic and 

atmospheric research vessels. The NOAA aircraft fleet includes aircraft that collect 

environmental and geographic data essential to NOAA hurricane and other severe weather and 

atmospheric research and aircraft that conduct aerial surveys to forecast water supply and 

flooding potential from snow melt. 

NOAA vessels make weather and ocean observations in the marine environment. Over 50,000 

automated observations are submitted per year through the World Meteorological Organization’s 

(WMO) Voluntary Observing Ships scheme. NOAA vessels also support NOAA’s NDBC in 

recovery of buoys that have been disabled or gone adrift. 

NOAA supports a broad range of meteorological activities and projects with its fleet of aircraft, 

based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Three of its nine aircraft are dedicated to 

this purpose throughout the year, providing valuable information to NOAA and the Nation. The 

NOAA Gulfstream, G-IV (SP) (N49RF), provides scientists with a platform for the investigation 

of processes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. With an operating ceiling of 45,000 

ft, the G-IV is a critical tool for obtaining the data necessary to improve hurricane and winter 

storm track forecasts and for research leading to improvements in hurricane intensity forecasts. 

The NOAA G-IV annually supports hurricane synoptic surveillance missions; the aircraft flies in 

the environment surrounding the storm at a high altitude, releasing Global Positioning System 

(GPS)–equipped dropsondes at preselected locations. The data from these vertical atmospheric 

soundings are received, processed, and transmitted from the aircraft to a NOAA NCEP computer 

site, where they are incorporated into computer models of hurricanes to improve hurricane track 

forecasts. Each dropsonde directly measure temperature, pressure, and humidity at the rate of 

two samples per second as it falls through the atmosphere to the surface and computes wind 

speed and wind direction at a rate of four samples per second, using a full-up GPS receiver. 

Recent estimates of the improvement in hurricane track predictions utilizing this technology 

show an improvement of between 20 and 30 percent, which represents a savings of $10 million 

or more per hurricane in warning and preparedness costs. 

The G-IV is also used for winter storm surveillance in the Pacific, operating from bases in Japan, 

Hawaii, and Alaska. Flights are in support of NCEP’s ongoing program to improve winter storm 

forecasts in the United States. 

Two NOAA WP-3D Lockheed Orion aircraft (N42RF and N43RF) support NOAA's 

atmospheric and oceanographic research, as well as its tropical storm and hurricane 

reconnaissance operations. The aircraft’s research and navigation systems provide detailed 

spatial and temporal observations of a wide range of atmospheric and oceanic parameters. 

NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) develops and calibrates specialized instruments, 

installs and integrates user-supplied instrumentation into the aircraft and data network, and

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processes data for immediate satellite transmission or future analysis. The NOAA WP-3D 

aircraft, while executing the complex flight patterns required for hurricane research, also provide 

storm data to the NHC in real time, transmitting flight level data and GPS dropsonde messages, 

as well as radar images transmitted via their multiple aircraft-satellite data links. The stepped 

frequency microwave radiometers (SFMR) on the NOAA WP-3D are used to map the surface 

wind fields in and around hurricanes and tropical storms. Real-time surface wind speed maps are 

critical to providing more accurate forecasts of the extent of hurricane and tropical storm force 

winds. 

During each hurricane season, the two NOAA WP-3Ds support several major research 

experiments in support of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD) of NOAA’s Atlantic 

Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories in its Intensity Forecast Experiment (IFEX), an 

ongoing program studying hurricane genesis, rapid intensification, and other related experiments. 

A promising part of this research effort is the collaboration with NOAA’s EMC in a program to 

obtain three-dimensional horizontal wind fields in developing tropical systems and hurricanes, 

utilizing the Tail Doppler Radars of the WP-3D aircraft. The objective of this effort is to obtain 

data that can be assimilated into the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) 

model for the purpose of improving hurricane intensity forecasts. Extensive descriptions of the 

various hurricane research experiments may be found in the HRD Field Program Plan for 2012. 

The NOAA WP-3D aircraft annually participate in both summer and winter operations 

supporting the NESDIS satellite validation program. Operating in regions of high winds and 

heavy precipitation, one of the WP-3Ds, equipped with microwave scatterometers and 

radiometers, provides under-flight validation of the ocean surface wind vectors sensed by the 

European ASCAT and Indian OceanWind2 satellites. Traditional venues for these satellite 

validation operations are Alaska or Newfoundland in the winter and the Atlantic and Caribbean 

regions during the summer hurricane season. 

These versatile aircraft also support international and interagency projects. Most recently the 

N43RF aircraft supported the FY 2012 Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) 

project from Diego Garcia. This project collected coordinated measurements in the atmosphere 

and ocean to capture process involved with the intra-seasonal variability such as the MaddenJulian Oscillation. The aircraft data will be used for evaluation and improvement of coupled 

atmosphere-ocean models. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Basic Meteorological Services 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a long-term partner with NOAA 

for building and launching U.S. POES and GOES civilian weather satellites under reimbursable 

arrangements. For example, NOAA will fund the JPSS Program, with NASA serving as the 

acquisition agency. NASA is also collaborating with NOAA to acquire key climate 

measurements and transition them into the operational system. 

NASA consistently supports and develops programs to improve public understanding of the 

complexity of the global integrated Earth system and to educate and train the next generation of 

scientists and engineers. NASA is the largest contributor to the Global Learning and 

Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, and has launched a fully 

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redesigned GLOBE data and information system and web site in FY 2012. NASA supports 

innovative projects in science communication, as well as formal and informal education to 

stimulate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) literacy and learning in 

schools and the public. NASA also supports the development of next generation workforce, such 

as the DEVELOP (not an acronym) Program and the Student Airborne Research Program 

(SARP) at the undergraduate level and the NASA’s Earth System Science Fellowship Program at 

the graduate level. 

Federal Aviation Administration Contributions to Basic Services 

Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS). ASOS, a joint program of the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), NOAA/NWS, and the Department of Defense. The ASOS units installed 

at 884 sites serve as the nation's primary surface weather observing network. ASOS is designed 

to support routine weather forecast activities and aviation operations while also supporting the 

needs of the meteorological, hydrological, and climatological research communities for basic, in 

situ observations. About 426 ASOS units are installed at towered airports where the FAA 

provides augmentation/backup of the observations. The remaining ASOS units are installed at 

non-towered airports where its automated observations support FAA Service Level D weather 

reporting capabilities. (FAA aviation weather Service Levels are discussed in the section on 

Aviation Services.) ASOS units work nonstop, updating observations every minute, 24 hours a 

day, every day of the year. 

At airports that do not have an ASOS unit, the FAA’s Automated Weather Observing System 

(AWOS) provides basic aviation weather observations directly to pilots approaching the airport. 

The AWOS Data Acquisition System (ADAS) functions as a message concentrator for 

observations from ASOS, AWOS, and the FAA’s Automated Weather Sensor Systems. These 

capabilities, which serve the aviation community, are described further in the Aviation Services 

section. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

Interagency Research Programs 

The Earth System Prediction Capability (NOAA-DOD-DOE-NSF-NASA 

Collaborative Project) 

The ESPC program will provide a more accurate global ocean and atmospheric forecast system 

with longer skillful forecast times at synoptic, subseasonal, seasonal, and interannual scales 

through integrating and coupling global atmosphere, ocean, ice, land and near-space forecast 

models into an operational suite of prediction systems that reduce errors relative to the current 

modeling approaches. Additionally, it will develop a national common modeling architecture to 

improve cross-agency collaboration, and a much more efficient computational architecture to 

allow for real-time operational prediction. In FY 2013, common model architecture and 

standards will be initiated, demonstration plans will be developed, and science workshops and 

early benchmark testing will be conducted. The long range program goal is to advance skillful 

forecasts (relative to averaged climatology) from the operational capability, currently 7-10 days, 

to 30 days and longer. 

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The United States Weather Research Program (USWRP) 

The USWRP is an interagency program for weather research and the transition of research to 

applications. The member agencies include NOAA (lead), NASA, the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), the Navy, and the Air Force. The NOAA component of the USWRP has been 

quite active although the funding levels have been flat. NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Research (OAR), through its Office of Weather and Air Quality, helps plan NOAA 

USWRP priorities, implements the program, and monitors progress. In FY 2013, the USWRP 

will include the following projects: 

The Developmental Test Center (DTC). The DTC (http://www.dtcenter.org/index.php) is a joint 

operation between NOAA/ESRL/Global Systems Division (GSD) and the National Center for 

Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, Funded by NOAA, the DTC serves as the 

test bed for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) community model (http://wrfmodel.org/index.php), which is a cooperative venture between NOAA, NSF, and the Air Force. 

In FY 2012, the DTC will continue to test and evaluate the Hurricane-WRF (HWRF) community 

model. 

Collaborative Program on the Societal Impacts and Economic Benefits of Weather 

Information (Societal Impacts Program or SIP). The USWRP provides most of the support for 

SIP (http://www.sip.ucar.edu/) and will continue to do so in FY 2012. Its mission is to be a 

clearing house for socioeconomic information on weather, to increase knowledge within the 

weather community concerning the human and economic impacts of weather, to better determine 

the value of weather information, and to improve our ability to communicate weather 

information to all public and private sectors. In FY 2012, the SIP will continue work to 

determine how the public understands forecast uncertainty and to research the communication, 

use, and value of hydrometeorological information, undertaking outreach and education.

The Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT). The NOAA USWRP provides support for the JHT, to 

evaluate and transfer into operations, promising hurricane analysis and forecast applications 

developed in the research community. This testbed is located at NCEP’s National Hurricane 

Center in Miami, Florida. The USWRP will continue to support the JHT in FY 2013. 

The Hydrometeorological Testbed (HMT). The NOAA USWRP has invested in research and 

transition of research to applications to improve quantitative precipitation forecasts through 

NOAA’s HMT (http://hmt.noaa.gov/), led by the Physical Sciences Division (PSD) of 

NOAA/OAR/ESRL. The HMT seeks to improve regional precipitation forecasts, particularly for 

heavy, flooding rains. This support will continue as the HMT moves from the West Coast to set 

up a field program in the southeast United States. This project is operated in collaboration with 

OAR’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and NWS’s Hydrometeorological Prediction 

Center. In FY 2013, NASA and NOAA will begin their initial collaborative phase in preparation 

for jointly conducting a larger campaign in FY 2014. 

The Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) Testbed. The NOAA USWRP provides 

support for the OSSE Testbed. The OSSE aims to establish a numerical test bed that will enable 

a hierarchy of experiments to determine the potential impact of proposed space-based, suborbital, and in situ observing systems on analyses and foecasts, evaluate trade-offs in observing 

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system design, and assess proposed methodology. In FY12 the OSSE testbed will continue to 

provide expertise to NOAA, the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) partners, 

and academia. 

Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation 

Effective environmental prediction requires several elements. One of these is a global observing 

system that provides accurate, well-distributed measurements of the Earth’s environment. 

Another element consists of the numerical models that effectively embody the physical and 

chemical laws governing the behavior of the Earth’s land surface, oceans, and atmosphere. Data 

assimilation is the mortar that binds these elements into successful prediction systems for 

weather, oceans, climatology, and ecosystems. The JCSDA is a partnership between NOAA, 

NASA, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force dedicated to developing and improving our ability 

to exploit satellite data more effectively in the United States. The JCSDA is a collaborative effort 

that allows the work required to assimilate the billions of satellite observations available daily to 

be shared by several agencies. This effort would otherwise be duplicated across the agencies. 

The JCSDA has the following goals: 

 Reduce the average time for operational implementation of data from new satellite 

sensors to one year. 

 Increase the use and impact of current satellite data in numerical weather prediction 

models. 

 Advance the common numerical models and data assimilation infrastructure. 

 Assess the impacts of data from advanced satellite sensors on weather and climate 

predictions. 

By meeting these goals, the JCSDA achieves its objective of maximizing the nation’s return on 

its investment in observing systems and modeling by providing improved support for U.S. 

military actions and improving the guidance used by forecasters to protect citizens’ lives and 

property. 

Wind Forecast Improvement Project (NOAA–DOE Collaborative Project) 

The Wind Forecast Improvement Project 

(WFIP) is a collaboration of NOAA, DOE, 

two private wind energy companies, and 

academic research institutions. The goal is 

to lower the cost to utilities of windderived electric power by improving the 

foundational wind forecast for all users, 

including wind power and utility system 

operators. 

DOE contributes funding for WFIP and 

Turbines near the Dyess Air Force Base in Texas scientific expertise from its headquarters

generate power for the base. Photo courtesy of the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 

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and within its national research laboratories, while NOAA contributes scientific expertise in 

collecting atmospheric data and in making weather models and forecasts. The project targets the 

Upper Midwest and West Texas, which were selected in part because WFIP industry partners 

operate thousands of wind turbines in these areas. WFIP researchers will capture detailed data on 

wind speed and direction in the atmosphere up to several kilometers, using instruments such as 

wind profiling radars, sodars, and anemometers located at normal reading heights and on 

meteorological tall towers 

The data will be used as additional input to a high-resolution research weather model at 

OAR/ESRL. Scientists expect the additional observations will improve the accuracy of regional 

weather forecasts for the lower atmosphere–thus affecting the wind industry forecasts at turbine 

level. 

Another key component of WFIP is that private wind energy companies are sharing 

meteorological observations collected on tall towers and wind turbines on wind farms with 

NOAA. NOAA is using these data for model verification and validation, as well as assimilation 

into its advanced, rapidly refreshed weather models. NOAA has for several years been 

encouraging renewable energy companies to sign data sharing agreements under which NOAA 

will maintain the proprietary nature of such data, while using them for research and operational 

weather forecasts to reduce risk for the wind industry. 

 WFIP researchers will evaluate the value of various types of weather data for improving the 

accuracy of weather forecasts, as well as the economic value of improved forecasts to the wind 

utilities. The WFIP is the first of a growing number of joint agency efforts under a Memorandum 

of Understanding on “Weather-dependent and Oceanic Renewable Energy Resources” signed by 

NOAA and DOE in January 2011. The agreement set up a framework for NOAA and DOE to 

work together on renewable energy modeling and forecasting. 

NOAA/NWS Research Programs and Projects 

Continually improving the accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility to prediction services is a result 

of research and development (R&D) within the NWS, at other NOAA offices such as OAR, and 

externally from universities and private corporations. NCEP/EMC develops, enhances, and 

maintains complex data assimilation and numerical modeling software systems that span the 

globe. The computer models and other numerical forecast products developed by the EMC 

provide the basic guidance that NCEP and WFO meteorologists use in making operational 

weather and climate predictions. EMC uses advanced modeling methods developed both 

internally and cooperatively with universities, the international scientific community, NESDIS, 

NOAA laboratories, and other government agencies. EMC is a partner in the JCSDA, which is 

designed to accelerate the use of research and operational satellite data in NCEP operational 

models. The EMC integrates research and technology through collaborative model development 

projects. These interactions serve as an efficient and effective interface between NCEP and the 

scientific community that develops ideas, numerical models, and forecast techniques to 

implement model improvements and improve NWS products. The EMC conducts applied 

research and technology transfers and publishes research results in various media for 

dissemination to the world meteorological, oceanographic, and climate communities. EMC also 

participates in ongoing interactive research programs such as NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast 

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Improvement Project (HFIP) and the WRF community model. Furthermore, EMC is 

participating in the Winter Storm Reconnaissance Program in the Pacific through targeted 

observations aimed at improving forecasts across the country. In addition, at NCEP, led by the 

EMC, the ensemble modeling approach has been applied operationally at short, medium, and 

extended ranges. EMC efforts in collaborative development resulted in improvements to 

mesoscale and global models, as well as advances in hurricane track forecasts, climate forecasts, 

and air quality forecasts. 

NOAA/NESDIS 

Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) 

STAR is the science arm of NESDIS. Its mission is to create satellite data products using 

observations of the land, atmosphere, and ocean and transfer those products from research into 

routine operations. In addition, STAR supports the assimilation of the data from new satellite 

instruments into NOAA’s numerical prediction models. STAR calibrates the Earth-observing 

instruments of all NOAA satellites to provide reliable measurements for assessing the current 

conditions on Earth in a timely manner, predicting changes in conditions, and studying long-term 

trends in the environment. STAR works to create products that monitor atmospheric, oceanic, 

and environmental hazards; enhance NOAA’s infrastructure for remote sensing; reduce the risks 

associated with launching new, untested, and very expensive satellites and sensors; and expand 

its support to satellite data users. 

Satellite Research Projects 

Hurricane Applications of Lightning Measurements. Lightning causes between $4 and $5 

billion in losses each year in the civilian sector with about 47 deaths and 303 injuries per year. In 

addition, location and frequency of lightning discharges are useful indicators of storm 

development and intensity. Although ground-based lightning measurements have been available 

for several years, the GOES-R GLM will dramatically improve NOAA’s lightning observation 

capabilities over the open oceans where hurricanes form and intensify. The improvements in the 

prediction of tropical cyclone (TC) genesis and intensification have not kept pace with those for 

track forecasting. This is because intensity fluctuations within TCs are inherently related to 

small-scale internal processes, such as convection in the inner core, for which evolution can be 

readily detected by lightning activity. It is currently well accepted that TC inner core and outer 

band lightning are often associated with an imminent intensity change of the system. Therefore. 

the total lightning observations from GLM have the potential to provide a new reliable source of 

information for TC forecasting, which is currently sparse or lacking far at sea. 

Research in FY 2013 will continue to focus on ways to use ground-based lightning networks, 

which can provide some information on lightning activity over the tropical oceans. The World 

Wide Lightning Locator Network (WWLLN) provides estimates of only about 10 percent of the 

total lightning activity, compared with what will be available from GOES-R, yet offers a first 

look at the forecast potential of this new data source over the open oceans. The WWLLN data 

has been extensively used to examine the relationships between lightning distributions/activity 

and TC formation and intensification in combination with other factors known to be important 

such as sea surface temperature, ambient mid-level relative humidity and ambient vertical wind

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shear. Preliminary results for the Atlantic and east Pacific are very encouraging and show the 

potential for using lightning information to improve predictions of storm rapid intensification 

and rapid weakening, which are especially challenging forecast problems. Quantitative rapid 

intensification algorithms will continue to be run in real time and made available to forecasters at 

the National Hurricane Center for training and evaluation as part of the GOES-R Proving 

Ground. Work will begin on generalizing this algorithm to the western North Pacific as part of 

the new Pacific Region Proving Ground. 

Because the lightning activity is closely related to cloud processes, it has the potential to provide 

new information that can be assimilated into numerical forecast models to improve the estimate 

of the initial state of the atmosphere. Data assimilation research will be performed using the 

Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast (HWRF) to optimize the methods for including 

lightning input. 

This work has the potential to help improve hurricane forecasts. The ability to better forecast 

how strong a storm will be when it reaches inhabited land will help to improve the reliability of 

hurricane watches and warnings, which are important for evacuations and other mitigation 

activities. 

Precipitation Estimation Using Satellite Observations. Precipitation estimation data from 

satellites provide a critical supplement to other sources of rainfall information for flood and flash 

flood forecasting, water resources applications, and myriad other uses. In many parts of the 

world, satellites represent the only reliable source of rainfall information. Data from GOES 

instruments sensing in the infrared and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum provide 

high-resolution, rapidly updated rainfall information for hazardous-weather applications. Moreaccurate estimates of rainfall can be derived from microwave-frequency instruments onboard 

POES / JPSS, but their less frequent updating makes them more suitable for longer term water 

monitoring. In FY 2013, NOAA will continue to develop the algorithms for the next generation 

of NOAA’s GOES. In addition, modifications to the current generation of algorithms will be 

explored, in search of better ways to serve the users of these data. 

Microburst Assessment from Satellites. A suite of products derived from the current generation 

of GOES was developed and evaluated to assess hazards to aircraft in flight presented by 

convective storms and associated high winds. The existing suite of GOES microburst products 

employs the GOES sounder to calculate risk based on conceptual models of favorable 

environmental profiles for convective wind generation. Large output values of the microburst 

index algorithms indicate that the ambient thermodynamic structure of the troposphere fits the 

prototypical environment for each respective microburst type (Wet, Hybrid, Dry, etc.). In 

accordance with diagnostic nowcasting products, the Microburst Windspeed Potential Index 

(MWPI), and a multichannel GOES imager microburst risk product are currently experimentally 

generated and available to the public via the WWW. These products are designed to infer 

attributes of a favorable microburst environment that include large temperature and moisture 

changes with height in the atmosphere. These conditions foster intense convective downdrafts 

due to evaporative cooling as precipitation descends in the sub-cloud layer. 

The GOES imager microburst risk product is based on a multichannel algorithm in which output 

brightness temperature difference is proportional to microburst potential. This product provides a

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higher spatial (4 km) and temporal (30 minutes) resolution than is currently offered by the GOES 

sounder microburst products (10 km, 60 minutes). It thus provides useful information to 

supplement the sounder products in the convective storm nowcasting process. In addition, this 

imager product provides microburst risk guidance in high latitude regions, especially north of 

latitude 50°N, where existing sounder coverage is not available. FY 2013 research will continue 

to focus on intercomparison, validation, and refinement of the GOES microburst products, as 

well as training in the operational use of the products.

NOAA/OAR Laboratories 

Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) 

ARL conducts research and development in the fields of atmospheric dispersion, air quality, 

climate change, and boundary layer science. Key capabilities include improving approaches for 

predicting atmospheric dispersion of hazardous chemicals and materials; developing, evaluating, 

and applying air quality models; conducting research on surface energy budgets and climate 

variability and trends; and advancing the understanding of (and ability to predict) the behavior of 

the planetary boundary layer. ARL research contributions are also discussed in the Support 

Research section of Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services. 

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) 

Two major areas of AOML research are ocean-observing technologies and tropical cyclone 

research. 

Ocean Observing Technologies.. In addition to the many weather-related observing systems, 

OAR is dedicated to improving the development, deployment, and monitoring of oceanographicrelated observing technologies and related data. As part of this effort, AOML manages the 

deployment of drifting buoys around the world, deploying some 900 new drifters annually and 

tracking approximately 1,250 as part of the Global Drifter Program. Using research ships, ships 

of the Ship of Opportunity Program (SOOP), and U.S. Navy aircraft, Global Lagrangian Drifters 

(GLD) are placed in areas of interest. Once verified as operational, they are reported to AOML's 

Data Assembly Center (DAC). Incoming data from a drifter are then placed on the Global 

Telecommunications System (GTS) for distribution in real time to meteorological services 

everywhere. The primary goal of this project is to assemble and provide uniform quality control 

of sea surface temperature (SST) and surface velocity measurements. These measurements are 

obtained as part of an international program to improve climate prediction. Climate prediction 

models require accurate estimates of SST to initialize their ocean component. Drifting buoys 

provide essential ground truth SST data for this purpose. The models also require validation by 

comparison with independent data sets. Surface velocity measurements are used for this 

validation. Approximately 100 meteorological drifting buoys are maintained in the Southern 

Hemisphere as part of the Southern Hemisphere Drifting Buoy Program—a subset of the Global 

Drifter Program. 

NOAA supports measurements from thermosalinographs (TSGs) which are mounted close to the 

water intake of research and cargo ships and continuously measure the sea surface salinity and 

temperature along the track of the ship. NOAA operates and maintains AMVER SEAS 2K, a 

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Microsoft Windows-based real-time ship and environmental data acquisition and transmission 

system. The AMVER software creates a series of reports that describe point of departure, route, 

and arrival of a ship. The SEAS 2K software acquires atmospheric and oceanographic data and 

transmits the data in real time to the GTS and to operational databases used by scientists. SEAS 

2K is employed on ships of the Volunteer Observing System (VOS), SOOP, NOAA, UniversityNational Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), and U.S. Coast Guard vessels. SEAS 2K 

is now installed on more than 400 ships of the VOS and SOOP; and over 200,000 AMVER 

SEAS meteorological messages are transmitted each year and inserted into the GTS. 

AOML operates a global Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) Program that utilizes 

approximately 30 ships of the SOOP and collaborates with international institutions that operate 

another 30 ships to monitor the global upper ocean thermal structure. TSG and XBT data are 

transmitted in real time into the GTS and are being used to initialize weather and climate forecast 

models. 

Tropical Cyclone Research. To improve tropical cyclone track and intensity forecast guidance, 

AOML’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD) uses in situ and remotely sensed data collected by 

aircraft, satellites, and buoys and computer model simulations of the inner core of tropical 

cyclones and their surrounding environment. An aircraft field program is used to gather datasets 

representing all stages of the storm’s lifecycle; these datasets are used to both support operational 

needs and provide the cornerstone of HRD’s research. The observations are primarily collected 

during the hurricane season using two NOAA turboprop aircraft and a Gulfstream-IV jet 

operated by NOAA’s AOC. Because of their extensive field experience, HRD scientists are 

recognized internationally for their knowledge of tropical cyclones, as well as their expertise in 

technological areas such as airborne Doppler radar, dropsondes, cloud microphysics, and air-sea 

On the left is an image of the flight patterns for five consecutive back-to-back WP-3D Doppler mission 

around from 00Z 19 August 2009 in Hurricane Bill. On the right is a depiction of the real-time Doppler 

analyses for three legs on the first of the five missions showing the flight track and Doppler analyses 

superposed over an IR satellite image centered on the mission time. The Doppler radar data collected 

on these three legs were used to generate superobs for assimilation into the ARW model running on 

TACC. 

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interaction, to name a few. These assets make HRD unique worldwide and provide NOAA with 

a unique capability.

Much of HRD’s hurricane research is based on analysis of in situ and remotely sensed 

observations of the core of tropical cyclones and their surrounding environment. These analyses 

are used to improve the general understanding of tropical cyclones and provide valuable 

information for the initialization and evaluation of next-generation numerical models. 

Observations are primarily collected as part of the NOAA Intensity Forecast Experiment (IFEX), 

a partnership involving HRD, TPC, EMC, and NESDIS. These observations are collected during 

hurricane season using the fleet of U.S. Air Force Reserve WC-130J aircraft, the two NOAA 

WP-3D turboprop aircraft, and the Gulfstream-IV jet operated by the AOC. The goal of IFEX is 

to collect observations that directly aid in the development and evaluation of HWRF, the nextgeneration tropical cyclone forecast modeling system, under the new NOAA Hurricane Forecast 

Improvement Project (HFIP). 

Real-time maximum surface wind swath produced by the HWRFx model for Hurricane Bill on 0000 UTC 

19 August 2008. The track is depicted in magentat with dots long the track every 3 h. 

HRD also maintains active research programs with other governmental agencies and arranges 

cooperative programs with scientists at NCAR and numerous universities. For example, in 

August-September 2010, HRD collaborated with NASA and NSF–supported researchers, 

combining observing capabilities to sample a number of tropical cyclone to address tropical 

cyclogenesis and rapid intensity change, which are key problems for NOAA operational

forecasters. NASA conducted the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) field 

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campaign to learn why a tropical storm forms and strengthens into a hurricane. NASA provided 

innovative instruments to record detailed atmospheric measurements through a tropical storm or 

hurricane for 20 hours by NASA’s Global Hawk UAS, flying above the disturbance, while 

additional observations were taken at different heights within the disturbance with NASA’s DC8 and WB-57 aircraft. The Pre-Depression Investigation of Cloud-systems in the Tropics 

(PREDICT) project, sponsored by NSF, focused on the pre-depression or genesis phases of 

tropical cyclones using NSF’s G-V sampling of synoptic-scale disturbances with GPS 

dropsondes. By combining resources, the three agencies could provide diverse observations of a 

single storm simultaneously from as many as six airborne systems, all transmitting high-quality 

observations to support operational needs at NHC and EMC.

The HFIP is a unified 10-year NOAA plan to improve the 1-day to 5-day forecasts for tropical 

cyclone activity, with a focus on rapid intensity change. Researchers at HRD, together with 2-3 

researchers at OAR’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), 5-6 researchers at 

ESRL, and 4-5 researchers at NCEP/EMC make up the NOAA core capability for hurricane 

R&D and play a major role in the HFIP. The HFIP is only feasible because of these core 

capabilities at HRD, AOML, GFDL, and ESRL. Within the NWS, NCEP/NHC, the Central 

Pacific Hurricane Center, and the hurricane-modeling group at NCEP/EMC comprise the NOAA 

core operational hurricane capability. 

HRD’s strengths in tropical cyclone research and longstanding collaboration with academia and 

other Federal agencies provide NOAA with a core capacity to address HFIP’s goals, which are 

grounded in the operational needs of the NWS. The goals of the HFIP are to improve the 

accuracy and reliability of hurricane forecasts; to extend lead-time for hurricane forecasts with 

increased certainty; and to increase confidence in hurricane forecasts. These goals will require 

major investments in enhanced observational strategies, improved data assimilation, numerical 

model systems, and expanded forecast applications based on high resolution and ensemble-based 

numerical prediction systems. The objectives of the HFIP are to coordinate hurricane-related 

R&D within the NOAA entities mentioned above and to broaden their interactions with the 

outside research community in order to address NOAA’s operational hurricane forecast needs. 

The expected outcomes of the HFIP are high quality information with associated probabilities on 

high impact variables such as wind speed, precipitation, and storm surge. These outcomes can be 

achieved by reducing the average errors of hurricane track and intensity forecasts by 50 percent, 

improving the skill in forecasting rapid intensity changes (both increases and decreases), and by 

improved storm surge forecasting. The benefits of HFIP will significantly improve NOAA’s 

forecast services through improved hurricane forecast science and technology. 

Specific metrics for HFIP include: 

 Reduce average track error by 50 percent for [forecast] Days 1 through 5. 

 Reduce average intensity error by 50 percent for Days 1 through 5. 

 Increase the probability of detection (POD) for rapid intensity change to 90 percent at 

Day 1 decreasing linearly to 60 percent at Day 5, and decrease the false alarm ratio 

(FAR) for rapid intensity change to 10 percent for Day 1 increasing linearly to 30 percent 

at Day 5. 

 Extend the lead time for hurricane forecasts out to Day 7. 

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Although improving the POD and FAR for rapid intensity change within 1 day of landfall is a 

high priority, given the uncertainty in track forecasts of landfall, these improvements are needed 

at all lead times over the entire life span of the storm system. 

While the vast majority of HRD’s research efforts are directed through HFIP toward improving 

observations, analysis, and model guidance and transitioning those improvements into operation, 

a number of research areas are not as well developed and require more basic research, often in 

collaboration with university collaborators. HRD is pursuing three such efforts: (1) improved 

understanding of the air-sea energy transfer processes related to waves, spray, and upper-ocean 

mixed layer in partnership with collaborators from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School 

of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the University of Rhode Island, and the Naval Research 

Laboratory (NRL); (2) improved understanding of the role of aerosol and microphysical 

processes in collaboration with NCEP/EMC, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NRL, the 

University of Rhode Island, and University of Tel Aviv; and (3) improved understanding of land 

surface impacts on rainfall and flooding through collaboration with NCEP/EMC and Purdue 

University. 

Earth System Research Laboratory 

ESRL is taking a lead role in implementing the International Earth Observation System, 

including the development and testing of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for providing global 

weather and climate observations. ESRL is one of several NOAA research organizations 

collaborating with NASA and many external partners in support of this project. The goal of these 

missions is to evaluate the utilization of UASs for improved U.S. and global observing in areas 

too remote or dangerous for lengthy manned flights, e.g., the polar regions and hurricanes. High 

and medium altitude, long-endurance UASs (HALE and MALE-class) can fly at remote 

locations in dangerous flying conditions for long periods. This technology provides many 

scientific benefits such as sustained global high quality all-weather profiles of atmospheric 

composition (water vapor, aerosols, cloud water, and trace gases), and high altitude vertical 

resolution and profiling. It also offers a rapid response platform for improved high impact 

weather forecasts at 1-day to 2-week lead times, and better climate change detection, attribution, 

and prediction in support of policy decisions. ESRL/GSD is conducting global and regional 

Observing System Simulation Experiments to evaluate the potential benefits of UAS sampling of 

hurricanes and their environment. 

ESRL/CSD scientists are leaders in the development and applications of lidar techniques for 

observing and characterizing the chemical and dynamical structure of the planetary boundary 

layer (PBL), which is key to a broad range of important issues. For example, CSD Doppler lidar 

studies in the vicinity of wind farms are revealing that commonly applied techniques to 

extrapolate surface winds to turbine hub heights are frequently not valid. To improve our 

understanding of energy and moisture fluxes over the ocean CSD scientists have developed a 

technique to stabilize a lidar beam to within better than one degree pointing accuracy for 

shipboard measurements. This technique is being applied to observe the wind and turbulence 

structure over the ocean and its role in the initiation of the Madden–Julian Oscillation, to 

investigate aerosol-cloud interactions in stratocumulus layers, and to evaluate the suitability of

models to assess offshore wind energy potential. Airborne and ground-based lidar measurements 

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are affording new insights into complicated meteorological phenomena such as occurrences of 

nocturnal low-level jets, flows associated with mountain-valley circulations, and drainage flows 

in complex terrain. These observations will advance our understanding of PBL processes and 

structure, leading to better modeling and improved forecasting. 

Scientists at GSD have developed GPS-Meteorology (GPS-Met), a ground-based research 

system that uses GPS to measure atmospheric water vapor in real time, increasing the accuracy 

of precipitation forecasts in the hourly updated numerical weather prediction model used by the 

NWS for high impact weather events. This system collects and processes observations from over 

250 GPS-Met stations, owned and operated by NOAA and other Government agencies across the 

United States. The data are distributed by GSD using an Internet web interface. When funds are 

available, this system will be transferred to NWS operations so that system reliability and 

maintainability can be ensured and sites expanded for use by NWS forecasters, the research 

community, and the private sector and so that the system can be incorporated into weather 

prediction models. In the process of developing this capability, NOAA research discovered that 

GPS can be used to calibrate satellite-based observations of total precipitable water in the 

atmosphere, thereby increasing the usefulness of the space-borne sensors. In addition, the GPSMet observations for water vapor, an important greenhouse gas, were discovered to be both 

sensor and model independent, providing the consistency necessary to support long-term 

monitoring of water vapor for climate applications and a reproducible climate quality data record 

to verify and confirm climate model predictions. 

ESRL will continue development of new sensors and innovative techniques for combining 

observing systems synergistically and economically. Efforts include developing tools and 

techniques to integrate the data from surface-based and satellite-borne profiling systems for more 

effective use of these data in forecasts. In support of this effort, ESRL/PSD has an active satellite 

remote-sensing group that uses data from various environmental satellites to study air-sea 

interaction processes; the global hydrological cycle, including water vapor and precipitation; and 

the Earth's radiation budget. 

Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS). The demand for finer scale 

meteorological services are increasingly requiring higher resolution observations to initialize and 

evaluate weather and climate models, applications, products, and public stakeholder needs. In 

response to these demands, GSD developed MADIS in partnership with NOAA/NWS to collect, 

integrate, quality control, and distribute observations from both NOAA and non-NOAA 

organizations, thus saving NOAA the costs of building tens of thousands of observing platforms. 

MADIS leverages partnerships with international agencies; Federal, State, and local agencies 

(e.g., State departments of transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation); universities; 

volunteer networks; and the private sector (e.g. airlines, railroads) to integrate observations from 

their in-situ observing networks with those of NOAA. As a result, MADIS provides a finer 

density, higher frequency observational database for use by multiple NOAA line offices and the 

greater meteorological community. MADIS achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 

2010, with Full Operational Capability (FOC) expected by the middle of the decade. 

Other important areas of research within ESRL include tropical atmospheric research, numerical 

analysis and prediction modeling, and atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric boundary layer 

processes. 

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Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory 

GFDL conducts long-lead-time research to understand the predictability of weather on both large 

and small scales and to translate this understanding into improved numerical weather and climate 

prediction models. Four groups at GFDL are engaged in weather research activities: Climate 

Dynamics and Prediction, Climate Diagnostics, Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics, and 

Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry. 

The Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics Group at GFDL improves our understanding of 

atmospheric circulations, ranging in scale from hurricanes to extratropical storms and the general 

circulation, with an emphasis on extreme weather events and the interplay between weather 

phenomena and climate variability and change. High-resolution atmospheric modeling is the 

central tool in this work. Recent research using these models has exposed a potential 

breakthrough in predicting seasonal hurricane activity: atmospheric models forced with observed 

SST can skillfully predict the interannual variability of the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, 

showing that the random part of this annual Atlantic hurricane frequency (the part not predictable 

given the SSTs) is relatively small. Research is ongoing to identify the processes that are key to 

determining tropical cyclone frequency. 

This effort is augmented by the Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry group, which performs 

research to improve our understanding of the interactive three-dimensional radiative-dynamicalchemical-hydrological structure of the climate system, from the surface and troposphere to the 

upper stratosphere and mesosphere, on various time and space scales. This is achieved by: (1) 

employing meteorological observations in conjunction with models for diagnostic analyses of 

atmospheric processes; (2) evaluating and improving parameterizations employed in weather and 

climate models; (3) modeling the interactions between clouds, convection, radiation and largescale dynamics to understand their roles in climate and climate change; and (4) modeling the 

physics, chemistry, and transport of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols to investigate the 

impact of future emissions on regional and global air quality and to investigate the regional and 

global climatic effects due to changes in natural and anthropogenic radiatively-active species. A 

key focus of this research is to better understand the response of global and regional climated to 

natural and anthropogenic aerosol emissions. 

An understanding is being developed of the role of extreme events and abrupt change, their 

regional impacts, and their interactions with natural variability, so that decisions to prepare for 

and confront these effects can be made with the best possible scientific information. Recent 

research by GFDL’s Climate Diagnostics group indicates we can expect longer-lasting and more 

frequent heat waves during the 21st century as compared to the 20th century. GFDL’s Climate 

Change, Variability, and Prediction group is exploring statistical methods for using coupled 

climate models to develop long-lead-time forecasts of seasonal hurricane activity, and 

experimental forecasts are available on GFDL’s website. This group is exploring even longer 

lead-time predictions through a vigorous research program on decadal variability, predictability, 

and predictions. At the heart of that program are efforts to better understand physical processes

that contribute to decadal variations and predictability in the climate system, particularly in terms 

of the role of the ocean as a driver of decadal-scale variations. 

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GFDL is conducting a very large set of decadal hindcast and prediction experiments, perhaps the 

largest set of any of the modeling centers around the world. These experiments are primarily 

using the GFDL CM2.1 climate model (atmospheric resolution of 200 Km, ocean resolution of 

100 Km). Using initial conditions from GFDL’s recently developed coupled-assimilation system, 

the decadal hindcast and prediction experiments yield model-produced “predictions” for each 

year from 1961 to 2011. These simulations seek to evaluate whether predictive skill for nearterm (decadal) climate forecasts is increased when starting from the observed state of the climate 

system, in addition to the predictive skill that arises from changing radiative forcing. Preliminary 

assessments of the predictive skill in these simulations reveal that they have skill that is at least 

comparable to other international efforts. The output from these simulations is freely available as 

part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Coupled Model Intercomparison 

Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). 

GFDL also has a vigorous effort to develop and use climate models of much higher spatial 

resolution to study issues of climate variability, predictability, and change. The GFDL CM2.5 

climate model has a 50 km atmospheric resolution and ocean resolution varying from 27 km near 

the Equator to 9 km at high latitudes. The GFDL CM2.6 climate model has an atmospheric 

resolution similar to that of the CM2.5 model, but its ocean resolution varies from 10 km at the 

equator to 3 km at high latitudes. These models use the very latest numerical techniques to 

provide extremely energetic, realistic simulations of the climate system. Such fine resolution 

ocean models are world leaders. Through their use, GFDL seeks to further scientific 

understanding of the role of the ocean in climate variability and change. Decadal prediction 

experiments with the CM2.5 model are continuing to exploit NOAA’s new high performance 

computing capability housed at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Despite the relatively 

high computational cost, GFDL scientists believe it is critical to move to high-resolution climate 

models to better understand the causes and predictability of decadal-scale climate fluctuations, as 

well as the role of the ocean in critical climate change issues, such as oceanic heat uptake. 

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) 

In FY 2012, GLERL’s planned research programs in coastal hydrodynamic modeling, 

hydrology, coastal buoy technology, regional climate modeling, and ice forecasting will directly 

support NOAA's meteorology mission through improved marine forecasts, more accurate 

watershed models, augmented real-time marine observations, better estimates of regional climate 

impacts on weather in the Great Lakes, and a whole new approach to ice forecasting. 

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) 

NSSL seeks to improve the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts and warnings of hazardous 

weather events such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, flash floods, lightning, winter storms, and their 

associated impacts. NSSL accomplishes this goal through a balanced research program, which 

aims to: (1) advance the understanding of weather processes; (2) improve forecasting and 

warning techniques; (3) develop new forecast and warning techniques and applications and 

evaluate them for operational use; (4) transfer knowledge, techniques, and applications to the 

NWS and other agencies; (5) develop enhancements for the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 

Doppler (WSR-88D), the cornerstone of the radar network now operated across the United 

States; (6) develop new radar technologies (e.g., dual-polarization and phased-array radar); and 

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(7) conduct field programs that use mobile, in situ, and remote observational capabilities to 

collect data that support theoretical research. NSSL performs research in three primary areas: 

weather radars, high-impact hazardous weather, and storm-scale hydrometeorology. 

Weather Radar Research. The NSSL is known for research leading to better understanding of 

severe weather and the development of related observational capability, both remote and in situ, 

and in particular for its role in the development of the WSR-88D radar. NSSL continues to 

improve the WSR-88D software algorithms used by NWS forecasters. NSSL is assisting in the 

NWS deployment of the dual polarization upgrade to the WSR-88D and is engaged in a risk 

reduction activity for the Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) technology. MPAR is a 

promising option for meeting the Nation’s future domestic radar surveillance needs. Using 

multiple beams and frequencies that are controlled electronically, NSSL has demonstrated that 

phased array radar reduces the scan time for severe weather from five minutes for WSR-88D 

radar to less than one minute, producing quicker updates of data and thereby potentially 

increasing the lead time for tornado and microburst warnings by a substantial amount. 

NSSL continues to collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry in 

designing and testing dual-polarized phased array radar panels required to determine the 

feasibility of using MPAR as the replacement technology for weather and aircraft surveillance 

radars. Over the next 10 to 15 years, a network of MPAR units could provide the next-generation 

expansion of our current weather radar surveillance network, replace the Nation’s aging air 

traffic surveillance radars, and meet homeland security and defense requirements for identifying 

and tracking non-cooperative craft operating over the U.S. homeland. 

In the spring of 2012, as in the previous year, forecasters from the NWS brought their warning 

decision making expertise to Norman, Oklahoma, to participate in the Phased Array Radar 

Innovative Sensing Experiment (PARISE). They continued to investigate whether faster data 

updates increases warning lead-time (as preliminary results have shown). NSSL continues to 

conduct experiments to directly compare warnings based on data provided at current radar 

update rates with warnings issued based on faster data update rates provided by phased array 

radar technology. NSSL also continues to work on signal processing improvements including 

range oversampling, beam multiplexing, ground clutter canceling, and other techniques to 

improve the quality, usability, and availability of radar data. In addition to learning about the 

impact of temporal sampling on warning decision making, PARISE will continue to evaluate 

data processing and collection techniques unique to NSSL's Phased Array Radar Program, such 

as electronic adaptive scanning and scheduled scanning that are adapted to end users’ needs. 

High Impact Hazardous Weather Research. The NSSL focuses on research to better understand 

such hazards as tornadoes, hail, high winds, heavy rain and snow, lightning, and ice storms with 

the goal of helping the NWS improve forecasts and warnings. The parameters of storm 

development and intensification are identified and studied by incorporating observations from 

Doppler weather radar, satellites, remote-sensing wind profilers, instrumented aircraft, and 

lightning-location networks. 

In FY 2010, NSSL helped lead the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes 

Experiment 2 (VORTEX2)—the largest and most ambitious field experiment in history to 

explore tornadoes. The VORTEX2 teams were seeking to understand how, when, and why 

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tornadoes form. Answers to these questions will give researchers a better understanding of 

tornadoes and should help increase warning time for those in the path of these deadly storms. 

These data are now being analyzed for selected cases and will be used to study tornado 

development, evolution, and their associated signatures. 

At the request of NWS/OST, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) prepared a 

plan for a demonstration of advanced capabilities for predicting convective initiation during the 

spring of 2011–2012 at the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT), a facility jointly managed by 

NSSL, the NWS Storm Prediction Center, and the NWS-Norman Weather Forecast Office. The 

HWT is designed to accelerate the transition of promising new severe weather forecast and 

warning science and technology into advances in operations. The demonstration included 

advanced guidance products and forecaster tools. 

NSSL is working with the NWS to develop a vision for the warning decision process, which 

continues to evolve as scientists and engineers work toward integrating the next-generation radar 

technology (e.g., rapid scanning phased array radar) and storm-scale numerical models to create

a storm-scale ensemble prediction capability for the NWS. Beginning in FY 2010, NSSL 

received funding to support the “Warn on Forecast (WoF)” program. Within the next decade, 

NSSL envisions operational units using a WoF methodology; for example, a forecaster will use 

thunderstorm-resolving computer models for severe weather warnings in the same way as he/she 

does today with the current Doppler radar systems. NSSL believes that these enhancements to 

the operational weather capability will lead to a more accurate warning system that increases 

lead time and provides probabilistic information that enables the public to take the most 

reasonable action during a severe weather event. The WoF program is being conducted in 

collaboration with ESRL/GSD; NCEP’s Storm Prediction Center; NWS Norman, Oklahoma, 

WFO; and several academic partners. Data from VORTEX2 will be valuable in developing, 

testing, evaluating, and improving WoF computer models and techniques. Significant advances 

have already been achieved with advanced data assimilation for tornadic thunderstorm events. 

The project is seeking to include a greater role of social science in its planning and execution. 

Storm-scale Hydrometeorology Research. The Coastal-Inland Flood Observation and Warning 

(CI-FLOW) project uses NSSL’s multisensor rainfall estimates to drive an NWS distributed 

hydrologic model that predicts streamflow, which helps the NWS improve flash flood warnings. 

CI-FLOW is a major component of NOAA’s Integrated Water Forecasting program called 

Coastal, Estuary Resource Information System (CERIS). In addition to streamflow prediction, 

streamflow data from predictive models are used to drive storm surge models from North 

Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. We believe this system of 

coupled models, tested during the 2010 and 2011 hurricane season, can be used not only for 

inundation studies of landfalling tropical systems, but also for land-use studies, algal bloom 

studies, and water quality assessment studies. 

Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ) 

NOAA’s Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ) supports the improvement of weather and 

air chemistry forecast information and products by funding, facilitating, coordinating and 

transitioning this research into useful weather and air chemistry applications. OWAQ programs 

provide outreach, linkage, and coordination between NOAA, other government agencies, and the 

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academic and private sectors, both in the U.S. and abroad. OWAQ works to ensure NOAA is 

optimally leveraging weather and air chemistry research capabilities. One of the programs that 

OWAQ administers that supports the improvement of weather and air chemistry forecasts is the 

U.S. Weather Research Program (USWRP) 

USWRP is a NOAA program that seeks to accelerate improvements to high-impact weather 

forecasts by funding, facilitating, and coordinating cutting-edge research to improve weather 

predictions that will protect the lives and property of the American public and will inform 

weather-sensitive U.S. industry. USWRP works in close collaboration with NOAA scientists 

and academic partners to transition this research into useful weather applications. The USWRP 

also supports social science studies in weather and a set of related projects to provide outreach, 

linkage, and coordination among NOAA, other Government agencies, and the academic and 

private sectors, both in the U.S. and abroad. Within NOAA, the OWAQ Program manages the 

overall USWRP effort in support of research for weather forecasting, societal benefits, and 

related weather research through projects with both internal and external partners. USWRP 

supports research activities that include: 

Testbeds. Testbeds provide an infrastructure where the latest research findings and techniques 

are continuously tested by scientists and evaluated by NOAA’s operational forecasters. Testbed 

funding provides support for managing the testbed activities as well as research conducted at the 

testbed. Testbeds serve as an effective means of demonstrating the value of research results to 

NOAA operational forecasters by providing an environment in which the computer hardware and 

software used by forecasters is used in evaluating the utility of research results. These testbeds 

allow for an accelerated transfer of research results into operations. In FY 2012 and FY 2013, the 

USWRP is funding the Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT), the Hydrometeorological Testbed 

(HMT), the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) and the Observing System Simulation 

Experiment (OSSE) Testbed. 

High-Resolution Numerical Model Improvements. Model improvements are required to support 

better high-impact weather, air chemistry, and flood forecasting. USWRP supports federal and 

university partnerships that are needed to develop techniques to quickly incorporate observations 

from radar (both operational and experimental), satellite, and other sources into models. 

USWRP activities will improve existing computer models and develop techniques to produce 

detailed, probabilistic forecasts so the users of this information understand the uncertainty 

associated with the forecast and can make more informed decisions. In FY 2012 and FY 2013 

USWRP is funding research to improve the representation of aerosols in models. During the 

same time period USWRP is also supporting activities related to the Earth System Prediction 

Capability (ESPC) program to improve long range weather forecasts. 

Partnership Projects. To ensure that research that cannot be easily evaluated in a testbed, the 

USWRP funds competitive academic-NOAA research partnership projects. The projects usually 

take place outside of the testbed environment because of geographical limitations of the NOAA 

scientist and/or the researcher. The requirement of an academic-NOAA forecaster partnership 

still ensures that the project will benefit from the expertise of both the academic community and 

NOAA forecasters and will ultimately have a direct pathway into NOAA forecast and warning 

operations. 

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Socioeconomic Research. Socioeconomic research ensures that USWRP research incorporates 

societal needs for weather forecasts and warnings. This research provides information about the 

economic value of weather research as well as understanding how society uses and interprets 

weather information. Socioeconomic research also provides information about improving the 

communication of weather information to the public. In FY 2012 and FY 2013 USWRP is 

funding projects selected in FY 2012 that address socioeconomic issues. 

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) 

Meteorological research at PMEL focuses on air-sea interaction research in the Gulf of Alaska 

and Bering Sea, as part of PMEL’s Ecosystem-Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated 

Investigations (EcoFOCI) project, conducted jointly with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries 

Service/Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Financial support for the research is provided by 

NOAA, NSF, and the North Pacific Research Board. 

PMEL also collaborates with ESRL’s Chemical Science Division on research on atmospheric 

aerosols and their impact on air quality and climate. In 2012, PMEL will lead the Western 

Atlantic Climate and Air Quality Study WACAQS) on the NOAA R/V Ron Brown to 

characterize marine and continental sources of atmospheric aerosols, atmospheric processing of 

those aerosols, and their impact on air quality and climate in the Northwestern Atlantic. The 

project will involve measurements in the Northwestern Atlantic both near shore and further 

offshore between the Sargasso Sea and Georges Bank with the goal of encountering a wide range 

of oceanic and atmospheric conditions to assess the impact of aerosols on regional climate and 

air quality. 

PMEL’s ocean climate research programs collect surface meteorological data from moored 

buoys and report in near-real time for ingest into global models. Data from PMEL’s PIRATA 

and RAMA tropical observing systems in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and from PMEL’s 

ocean climate stations at Ocean Weather Station Papa (Gulf of Alaska) and the Kuroshio 

Extension Observatory in the Northwest Pacific report surface meteorological data. 

NASA Supporting Research for Basic Meteorological Services 

Research in Basic Meteorology and Atmospheric Science 

The FY 2013 Budget will fund research competitively selected in FY 2012 through NASA’s 

Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2012 (ROSES-12) grant application 

solicitation. Many of the research activities carried out in FY 2013 will be tasks initiated in FY 

2011 and FY 2012 based on the earlier ROSES-10 and ROSES-11 solicitations. Selections based 

on ROSES-10 and ROSES-11 are ongoing and are addressing diverse Earth Science research 

areas, including biodiversity, cryospheric science, remote sensing of water quality, atmospheric 

composition, and interdisciplinary science. 

Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center 

NASA encourages more rapid use of NASA’s observations in operational weather predictions. 

The Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) center at NASA Marshall Space 

Flight Center is chartered to partially fulfill this research to operation transition activity. The 

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SPoRT center has become NASA’s primary research and operation transition interface with the 

National Weather Service for short-term weather predictions. Many NASA research data 

products are tested in near real time and disseminate to NOAA’s weather forecast offices. 

NASA also funds external research proposals to collaborate with the SPoRT center to accelerate 

the transition of research data to at least one operational environment. 

In FY2013, NASA plans to continue the investment in SPoRT and the external research projects 

to accelerate the transition of research data to operational environments. New proposal 

opportunities may be announced in FY13. 

Technology Development 

Technology investments are aligned with the goals of Earth Science Division's key strategic 

document, NASA's Climate Centric Architecture. A majority of the investments are centered 

around the National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey1

 activities, but many support 

NASA’s foundational and climate continuity missions. Such investments focus on maturation of 

technologies to enable advanced space-based observations and modeling to improve 

understanding of the global integrated Earth system, including global and regional climate 

change. Earth Science Technology Program (ESTP) provides funding for instrument, 

component, and information technologies prior to mission formulation. Developing and 

validating technologies well in advance of a flight project help to improve acceptance and reduce 

costs. Projects are initiated each year through the ROSES solicitation, and the duration of each 

project is typically three years. 

 

For FY 2013, ongoing investigations will be managed in the Instrument Incubator, Advanced 

Information Systems Technology, and Advanced Component Technology areas. These 

investigations resulted from the ROSES-10 and ROSES-11 solicitations. During FY13 ESTP 

will begin gathering requirements for new ROSES solicitations tentatively planned for FY14. 

NASA Applied Sciences Program 

The Applied Sciences Program leverages NASA satellite measurements and new scientific 

knowledge to enable innovative and practical uses by public and private sector organizations. 

Projects, which are competitively selected through ROSES, are designed to discover and 

demonstrate new applications and facilitate adoption by non-NASA organizations. In FY 2013 

the Applied Sciences Program will continue and initiate projects across a range of application 

areas, including health and air quality, water resources, disasters, and ecological forecasting. The 

Program will feature its own solicitations, joint solicitations with research and end-user 

organizations, contributions to mission science teams, and incorporation of applications 

requirements throughout the mission design process. NASA will continue the expanded 

SERVIR, or Regional Visualization and Monitoring System, network and enhance its scientific 

capabilities across a broader set of Earth science products. SERVIR is a joint venture between 

 

1

 NASA and its partners ask the NRC once each decade to look out ten or more years into the future and prioritize 

research areas, observations, and notional missions to make those observations. The last Decadal Survey was 

completed in 2007, entitled Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade 

and Beyond. 

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NASA and USAID which provides satellite-based Earth observation data and science 

applications to help developing nations improve their environmental decision making. 

National Science Foundation 

To improve weather forecasts and public safety, the NSF supports basic research on 

observational systems, analysis techniques, and understanding of phenomena. Many of NSF’s 

grants are to single investigators or small collaborative groups working on specific topics. 

Examples relevant to basic meteorological services include studies into the initiation of 

lightning, atmospheric turbulence, and cloud microphysics. Larger efforts including major field 

campaigns have recently focused on tornado genesis, mechanisms leading to genesis and rapid 

intensification of hurricanes, and winter storms, and analyses of these data are ongoing with the 

aim of improving the ability of weather forecasters to relay high-impact weather information to 

the public. A very recent major interagency experiment, Dynamics of the Madden Julian 

Oscillation (DYNAMO), was conducted in the Indian Ocean and analysis of the data should shed 

light on the processes of the MJO, which has a significant downstream effect on the weather of 

the United States.

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Agricultural and Land Management Services 

AGRICULTURAL AND LAND MANAGEMENT 

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Agricultural Services 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) 

World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) serves as the USDA focal point for economic 

intelligence and commodity outlook for U.S. and world agriculture. The WAOB coordinates, 

reviews, and approves the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. 

The WASDE report provides USDA’s forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global 

crops as well as U.S. livestock. The WAOB maintains the integrity of this report by ensuring all 

information used to prepare the report is consistent, objective, and reliable. The WAOB also 

coordinates all weather and climate information and monitoring activities within USDA. 

Because weather and climate have a significant impact on agricultural production, the WAOB 

employs meteorologists who specialize in preparing agricultural weather assessments. This 

activity is conducted at the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF), which is located within 

the OCE/WAOB and serves as the focal point in the Department for weather and climate 

information. 

JAWF was created in 1978 as an operational unit and is a cooperative effort between the WAOB 

and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA)/National Weather Service (NWS)/National Centers for Environmental 

Prediction (NCEP)/Climate Prediction Center (CPC). The primary mission of JAWF is to 

routinely collect global weather data and agricultural information to assess the impact of growing 

season weather conditions on crops and livestock production prospects. WAOB/JAWF receives 

a full suite of meteorological data and products from the NWS. WAOB/JAWF meteorologists 

combine and carefully analyze these agrometeorological data daily, preparing real-time 

agricultural weather assessments in the process. Some of the meteorological information that 

WAOB/JAWF meteorologists utilize include surface weather observations, radar data, satellite 

imagery, and model output. These meteorological data are regularly imported into a Geographic 

Information System (GIS) along with agricultural data to facilitate global agrometeorological 

assessments and to help identify regions of concern. These assessments keep USDA commodity 

analysts, the OCE, and the Secretary of Agriculture and top staff well informed of weather 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Agricultural and Land Management Meteorological Services are 

those services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the agricultural industries and 

Federal, state, and local agencies charged with the protection and maintenance of the Nation's land 

areas. Meteorological services specifically tailored for wildland fire management are reported under 

the Wildland Fire Weather service category.

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impacts on crops and livestock worldwide. In addition to providing routine agricultural weather 

assessments, WAOB/JAWF meteorologists prepare special assessments when extreme weather

(e.g., droughts, heat waves, freezes, floods, and hurricanes) has been observed or is imminent. 

Many of these special assessments are also prepared using GIS to overlay agricultural and 

meteorological data (Figure 1). In recent years, the NWS, National Hurricane Center (NHC), 

CPC, and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center have supported WAOB/JAWF by 

providing an increasing number of their operational products in GIS-compatible formats. These 

NOAA GIS efforts have benefited WAOB/JAWF significantly by increasing the speed and 

efficiency with which agricultural weather assessments can be prepared and enabling 

WAOB/JAWF meteorologists to more accurately access weather impacts on agriculture. When 

integrated with other data, these routine and special crop-weather assessments and analyses 

provide critical information to USDA decision-makers preparing crop production forecasts, 

formulating trade policy, and coordinating disaster relief. 

JAWF serves as the USDA focal point for weather data received from the Global Observing 

System, a worldwide network of nearly 8,000 meteorological reporting stations managed by the 

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World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Additionally, WAOB/JAWF obtains data from the 

NWS Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) to support domestic agricultural weather 

applications. The WMO and COOP data are archived at WAOB using an Oracle database 

management system. This sophisticated data warehouse helps WAOB/JAWF meteorologists 

manage the numerous agrometeorological data sets used for agricultural weather assessments. 

JAWF prepares daily agricultural assessments, keeping USDA commodity analysts and the 

Secretary of Agriculture and top staff informed of worldwide weather conditions and their 

effects on crops and livestock. Each morning, a written summary of current weather affecting 

agriculture in the United States is sent to the Secretary’s office and posted on the JAWF Web site 

at http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/pubs/index.htm. Furthermore, alerts of anomalous weather 

conditions impacting agriculture around the globe are included in a daily report of agricultural 

developments that is sent to USDA policy makers each afternoon. JAWF provides an objective 

procedure for converting past and present global weather information into assessments of cropyield potential. These assessments are integrated into USDA’s monthly analytical process to 

develop monthly foreign crop estimates of area, yield and production. These data are in turn 

used to estimate global supply and use (WASDE lockup reports). 

JAWF’s flagship publication is the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (WWCB). The WWCB is 

jointly produced by the WAOB, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and 

NOAA/CPC. First published in 1872 as the Weekly Weather Chronicle, the publication provides 

a vital source of information on weather, climate, and agricultural developments worldwide. The 

WWBC highlights weekly meteorological and agricultural developments on national and 

international scales, via numerous maps, charts, tables, and text products. These products 

combined provide a comprehensive illustration of the weather and climate conditions affecting 

agriculture, benefiting USDA decision makers and the agricultural community. The WWCB also 

provides timely weather and crop information relevant to the monthly Crop Production and 

WASDE reports, issued by USDA/NASS and USDA/OCE/WAOB, respectively. 

Weather conditions impact farming operations such as planting and harvesting, and greatly 

influence yield at critical stages of crop development. A wet planting season may prompt 

farmers to switch to another crop. A poor grain harvest may affect livestock feeding patterns. A 

regional drought can boost planted acres elsewhere to offset the expected production decline, and 

government policymakers may adjust farm programs to accommodate changing conditions. As a 

result, crop and weather information provided in the WWCB keep crop and livestock producers, 

farm organizations, agribusinesses, state and national farm policy-makers, government agencies, 

and foreign buyers of agricultural products appraised of worldwide weather-related 

developments and their effects on crops and livestock. 

Although the main emphasis of the WWCB is on current growing-season weather conditions and 

agricultural developments in the United States, real-time agricultural weather assessments are 

also provided for foreign countries that are either major exporters or importers of agricultural 

commodities. These crop-weather assessments keep the U.S. agricultural sector appraised of 

potential competitors and also influence production decisions at the farm level. 

Finally, while the WWCB was originally designed to maintain a current awareness of global 

weather and crop conditions, the long history of the WWCB provides an excellent climatological 

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record. This extensive history provides a reference source that is rich in climate and agricultural 

information, which is essential for episodic-events monitoring and analog-year comparisons. 

Knowledge of historical weather and climate patterns and past agricultural production in major 

agricultural regions worldwide is critical to the success of JAWF’s agrometeorological 

assessments. In September 1994, OCE/WAOB/JAWF published the Major World Crop Areas 

and Climatic Profiles (Agricultural Handbook No.664) book. This reference handbook provides 

the framework for assessing the weather’s impact on world crop production by providing 

information on climate and crop data for key producing regions and countries. An electronic 

version of the handbook was developed to provide periodic updates to the printed version as 

additional data become available. Coverage includes major agricultural regions and crops, 

including coarse grains, winter and spring wheat, rice, major oilseeds, sugar, and cotton. World 

maps show the normal developmental stage of regional crops by month. The Weekly Weather 

and Crop Bulletin and Major World Crop Areas and Climatic Profiles book and other JAWF 

publications are available online at http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather. 

Drought is one of the most costly natural disasters affecting the United States. In the summer of 

1999, the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) was developed to help improve drought assessments in 

the United States. The USDM is a collaborative effort between federal and academic partners, 

including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), 

JAWF, CPC, the NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center, and the Desert Research 

Institute. Approximately 11 lead authors, two of whom work for WAOB/JAWF, rotate the 

responsibility of preparing the USDM. Produced weekly, the USDM is a synthesis of multiple 

indices and impacts depicted on a map and in narrative form. The NDMC hosts the USDM on 

its Web site at http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu. The USDM is released each Thursday at 8:30 a.m. 

Eastern time. Because the USDM is prepared in a GIS, it is often overlaid on agricultural data to 

illustrate and quantify the spatial extent of drought affecting various agricultural commodities. 

These agricultural weather products, along with the USDM, serve as the main source of 

information for briefing USDA top staff on U.S. drought developments. 

Similarly, the North American Drought Monitor (NADM) is a cooperative drought monitoring 

effort among drought experts in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The NADM was 

initiated at a workshop in April 2002 and is part of a larger effort to improve the monitoring of 

North American climate extremes. Issued monthly since January 2003, the NADM is based on 

the end-of-month USDM analysis and input from scientists in Canada and Mexico. Major 

participants in the NADM program include the USDM collaborators, as well as Agriculture and 

Agrifood Canada and the National Meteorological Service of Mexico. The NADM Web site is: 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/drought/nadm/index.html. 

A U.S. Drought Monitor Forum and a North American Drought Monitor Forum are held in 

alternating years. These meetings provide an opportunity for Drought Monitor authors, 

stakeholders, and members of the drought community to discuss the latest drought monitoring 

tools, drought analyses, and requirements. The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor Forum was 

held on April 13-14, 2011, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, while a North 

American Drought Monitor Forum was recently held on April 18-20, 2012, in Cancun, Quintana 

Roo, Mexico. 

 

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The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) builds upon existing drought 

monitoring tools and experiences, such as the USDM, to develop an early warning system that 

aids in drought preparation and mitigation. The recommendations for such an early warning 

system were outlined in a 2004 report from the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) entitled 

“Creating a Drought Early Warning System for the 21st Century: The National Integrated 

Drought Information System.” OCE is one of several USDA agencies that have taken a lead role 

in the development of NIDIS, working closely with lead Federal agency NOAA and the WGA 

over the years to address the specific needs of the agricultural community. Specifically, WAOB 

represented USDA on the NIDIS program implementation team, which is comprised of federal 

and state agencies, academia, and the private sector and was established to develop a NIDIS 

implementation plan. The NIDIS implementation plan was released in June 2007, describing the 

NIDIS implementation strategy and governance structure. One of the early deliverables of 

NIDIS is the Drought Portal (http://www.drought.gov), which serves as the Government’s multiagency drought interface. WAOB is working with other USDA agencies to provide relevant 

drought information to the public via the Drought Portal. 

WAOB/JAWF remains active in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission 

for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM). A WAOB meteorologist is currently serving on the 

Management Group of the WMO CAgM, helping guide Commission efforts to improve support 

systems for agrometeorological services. This position helps coordinate Expert Teams 

responsible for reviewing the operational applications of current agrometeorological data, 

analytical tools, and information delivery systems and making recommendations on the 

procedures, methodologies, and resources necessary to improve the capability for operational 

applications. Additionally, WAOB continues to support the World AgroMeteorological 

Information Service (WAMIS), a dedicated web server that hosts agrometeorological bulletins 

and advisories issued by WMO Members for the global agricultural community 

(http://www.wamis.org/). WAOB is collaborating with other WMO Members to expand 

WAMIS capabilities, including the development on a web-based GIS capability that will 

dynamically integrate weather and climate information. 

Department of Interior 

Bureau of Land Management, 

Land Management Services 

The Department of Interior’s (DOI) 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

utilizes air-resource-related (air quality, 

weather, and climate) information in order 

to manage public lands in a manner 

consistent with Congressional direction as 

expressed in the Federal Land Policy 

Management Act (FLPMA). FLPMA 

directs the BLM to periodically and 

systematically inventory resources through 

a land-use planning process and to manage 

public lands in a manner that protects the A Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS).

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quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water 

resources, and archaeological values. The BLM also requires air-resource- related information to 

conduct environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for 

agency-initiated activities and land-use authorizations and ensure compliance with pollution laws 

such as the Clean Air Act. The BLM must therefore obtain, collect, and analyze air-resourcerelated information to (1) determine baseline conditions of air and atmospheric values on the 

public lands; (2) evaluate changes in baseline conditions (trends); (3) understand the extent to 

which other natural resources (vegetation, hydrology, wildlife, range, minerals, etc.) are 

influenced by atmospheric conditions so that informed management decisions can be made; and 

(4) to assist in developing models to predict future conditions; such as, atmospheric dispersion 

models to assess air quality impacts. The BLM obtains information of acceptable quality 

collected from existing monitoring networks operated by other agencies and programs whenever 

possible to promote efficiency and avoid duplication of efforts. Examples of these networks 

include the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Network, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS) SNOw pack TELemetry (SNOTEL) and Soil Climate Analysis 

Network (SCAN) networks, the National Interagency Fire Center Remote Automated Weather 

Station (RAWS) network, the Bureau of Reclamation Agricultural Weather (AgriMet) networks, 

the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network, the National 

Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), the U.S. Geological Survey National Streamflow 

Information Program (NSIP), and individual state climate offices. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency for USDA 

and conducts research on all aspects of agriculture including crop and livestock production, 

natural resources and sustainable agriculture systems, and human nutrition and food safety. 

Information about temperature, precipitation and wind spatial, temporal and intensity patterns are 

decision-making criteria for risk management of crop, livestock and ecosystem services 

management. Climate change research is conducted on the mitigation of the impacts of 

agriculture on climate, and on adapting agricultural systems for resilience to the impacts of 

changing climate. Weather-related research is focused on the needs of daily management 

decisions for water shortages and excesses, high temperature conditions, and wide swings of 

temperature over short periods of time. The increasing prevalence of extreme weather events, 

including severe storms, hail, strong wind events, and frost occurrences at almost any stage of 

growth, influence choice of crop or animal variety, and management actions. 

Development of a strong genetic base is a foundational element of ARS weather and climate 

research. This includes new crop varieties that can withstand weather stresses and that will 

reduce susceptibility to losses from insect and disease exacerbated by the impacts of changing 

climate. New rangeland management systems are under investigation to incorporate drought, 

higher temperatures, and changes of snowpack into decision-making. Factors affecting livestock 

health are being examined to compensate for air temperature and moisture effects on animal 

health, forage quality and harmful pests. 

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Agricultural and Land Management Services 

ARS research to develop management systems builds upon the genetic base to ensure that yield 

potentials are reached while maintaining environmental quality for ecosystem services. 

Development of measurement and monitoring capacity from satellites, airborne platforms and in 

situ systems, and the development of process models ranging from soil-plant-atmosphere crop 

growth and yield models to coarse scale models for estimating hydrologic status of watersheds 

are objectives. Notable ARS efforts include leadership for the development and validation of 

algorithms for the upcoming NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, and the 

development of a satellite-based evapotranspiration algorithm currently being tested by the 

National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). More efficient water management 

strategies such as irrigation scheduling with thermal remote sensing information, and the use of 

non-potable water (“grey-water”) to augment irrigation water supplies during times of drought 

are being developed by ARS. Some immediate benefits are beginning to appear: the grape and 

wine industry is finding that reduced water usage also improves wine quality. Tillage and 

residue management, choice of crops during rotations, and timing of management actions are 

also topics of investigation. 

Weather and climate data inputs and understanding of weather-driven processes are critical to the 

development of erosion models needed to make decisions that will reduce soil loss and 

degradation of water and air resources. Weather and climate data from the ARS experimental 

watershed program is being used in the development of weather generators needed for models 

used to simulate weather events for research and decision support systems. 

The ARS experimental watershed system is transforming into the Long Term Agricultural 

Research (LTAR) network. A strength of the LTAR is its geographic diversity and the ability to 

obtain data that can be compared over time and space. The LTAR is building a data 

management system (DMS) that leverages experience gained from the ARS-NRCS Conservation 

Effectiveness Assessment Project (CEAP) DMS development. 

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AVIATION SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

U.S. Code Title 49 Section 44720 (49 U.S.C. 44720) designates the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) as the Meteorological Authority for aviation weather services for the 

United States. In this capacity, the FAA provides requirements for the provision of aviation 

weather services to the National Weather Service (NWS), which is designated as the National 

Meteorological and Hydrological Service Provider. The FAA is responsible for ensuring 

compliance with the services as defined and with maintaining International Civil Aviation 

Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices as specified in Annex 3, 

Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation. 

The Department of Defense (DOD) service branches (U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 

Corps, and Coast Guard) provide their own aviation weather support services while abiding by 

Federal and international regulations. Each military service has its own meteorological support 

personnel except the Army, which is supported by the Air Force. Please refer to the Military 

Services section for details of military-unique aviation weather services. 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

NOAA/NWS aviation weather projects support increasing and improving observation 

capabilities, forecast products and techniques, outreach and training, operational adaptation of 

applied research, and verification of forecast products. These projects have the goal of improving 

the safe and efficient flow of air traffic in the National Airspace System (NAS). In response to 

requirements from the FAA and the international community, aviation weather products issued 

by NWS span the globe. 

Under an international agreement through the ICAO, the United States meets its weather 

forecasting obligations to the aviation community through products and services of the World 

Area Forecast Center (WAFC) Washington, one of two global services, located at Aviation 

Weather Center (AWC), one of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The 

AWC prepares forecasts four times a day of globally significant thunderstorms, tropical

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Aviation Services are those specialized meteorological services and 

facilities established to meet the requirements of general, commercial, and military aviation. Civil 

programs that are directly related to services solely for aviation and military programs in support of 

land-based aviation and medium- or long-range missile operations are included. Detailed aviation 

services/products for specific areas include, but are not limited to, ceiling and visibility, convective 

hazards, en route winds and temperatures, ground de-icing, in-flight icing, terminal winds and 

temperatures, turbulence, volcanic ash, and other airborne hazardous materials. 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs 

 

cyclones, severe squall lines, moderate or severe turbulence and icing, and cumulonimbus clouds 

associated with these conditions. The forecast charts also include information on volcanic 

activity, radiological releases, jet streams, and tropopause heights. This information is 

transmitted by the International Satellite Communications System (ISCS), a satellite data 

distribution system operated by NWS, with coverage in the Americas, Caribbean, Atlantic, 

western portions of Europe, the Pacific, and Eastern Asia. In June 2012, ISCS will be replaced 

with the WAFC Internet File Service (WIFS) to provide World Area Forecast System (WAFS) 

products and services, as defined by ICAO Annex 3, in an Internet web-based medium. 

The AWC, along with the 

Alaska Region’s Alaska 

Aviation Weather Unit 

(AAWU) and the NWS 

Weather Forecast Office 

(WFO) in Honolulu, 

Hawaii, provides wind, 

temperature, and flight 

hazard (e.g., icing, and 

turbulence) forecasts for 

flight planning and en 

route aircraft operations 

for the United States, the 

north Atlantic and north 

Pacific routes, and some 

routes in the southern 

hemisphere. This 

information is transmitted 

by the NWS Office of 

Operational Systems via 

ISCS (until phase-out) 

and by AWC via WIFS in 

support of the World Area 

Forecast System (WAFS) 

for ICAO aviation data 

needs and in support of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Region IV (North America) 

data exchange requirements. 

In addition to satisfying these global requirements for aviation weather, AWC hosts the Aviation 

Digital Data Service (ADDS), which makes available to the aviation community text, digital, and 

graphical forecasts, analyses, and observations of aviation-related weather variables. The ADDS 

serves as a platform for aviation weather products emerging from the FAA Aviation Weather 

Research Program and transitioning to operations. It has become an invaluable resource to users, 

especially in the U.S. general aviation community. In 2011, AWC launched a new website 

infrastructure that capitalizes on its FAA certification as a Qualified Internet Communications 

Provider. The enhanced web presence provides increased levels of data reliability for uses. 

The Aviation Weather Center (AWC) has the responsibility, as part of 

the World Area Forecast Center, Washington, to provide global 

weather forecasts of significant weather phenomena. Presently, the 

AWC produces these High Level Significant Weather charts covering 

two thirds of the globe, both northern and southern hemispheres that 

are issued four times per day. 

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The United States, in agreement with ICAO, operates two Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers 

(VAACs) as entities within NOAA. One of these, the Anchorage VAAC, is part of the AAWU

located in Anchorage, Alaska, and works closely with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The 

second VAAC, which is part of NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and 

Information Service (NESDIS) and NCEP, is located in Camp Springs, Maryland. The VAACs 

monitor volcanic activity through satellite remote sensing, provide initial notification of a 

volcanic eruption upon detection, and forecast volcanic ash plume movement and evolution. 

Under an agreement with the FAA, NWS meteorologists are assigned to Center Weather Service 

Units (CWSUs) located in each of the 21 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). 

The CWSUs are currently supported by 84 NWS meteorologists (4 at each of the 21 ARTCCs) to 

provide real-time support and decision assistance concerning weather impacts on air traffic. In 

addition to supporting the ARTCCs, the CWSUs provide meteorological support to en route 

centers, Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities, and airport towers. Because CWSU forecast 

support is embedded within the aviation mission, forecasters can focus on specific customer 

needs. In one example, a specialized marine stratus display system was developed to address the 

difficult issue of fog formation and dissipation in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco 

stratus system is used operationally by the CWSU forecaster, WFO aviation forecaster, FAA 

traffic managers, and airline meteorologists. 

To operationally support the needs of aviation users today, the NWS WFOs prepare Terminal 

Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) eight times daily, with amendments as needed, for more than 630 

public-use airports in the United States and its territories in the Caribbean and Pacific. 

Thus, the NWS, through three Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO) and the two VAACs , 

provides large-scale, global aviation functions that can be sensibly centralized, while the NWS 

WFOs discharge local aviation functions based on the centralized guidance provided by the 

AWC. Additionally, NCEP’s Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) supplies global gridded 

model data of temperature, winds, and humidity twice daily for flight levels from 5,000 to 

45,000 feet. 

NWS’s Aviation Weather Services Program funds a broad range of initiatives designed to 

improve the delivery of aviation weather information to NAS users. These initiatives include the 

acquisition of aircraft-mounted water vapor sensors; development of software, tools, and training 

programs to enhance forecaster effectiveness; and development of products to improve weather 

information availability to the aviation community. NWS’s NextGen Weather Program provides 

funds for the development and implementation of improvements to accuracy and accessibility of 

aviation weather information, aimed at meeting the goals of the Next-Generation Air 

Transportation System (NextGen). 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Timely and accurate weather observations and forecasts are essential to aviation safety and 

making the best use of aviation capacity. Pilots need to know the direction and speed of winds 

aloft in order to take advantage of tailwinds and minimize the effect of headwinds. They also 

need to know if there will be obstructions to visibility that restrict landings at their destination 

airport, and whether the runway is wet or dry and how that will affect braking action. Traffic 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs 

 

flow managers and pilots use weather observations and forecasts to determine when they need to 

plan alternative routes to avoid severe weather. The FAA has a lead role in collecting and 

distributing aviation weather data – particularly hazardous weather. The agency distributes 

aviation weather hazard information from its own systems and National Weather Service (NWS) 

computer forecast models, based on data available from FAA and NWS sensors, to develop 

aviation weather information for use by air traffic control facilities, pilots, airline operations 

centers, and other aviation-related facilities. 

Aviation Weather Systems 

The FAA employs two categories of weather systems: weather sensors and weather 

processing/dissemination systems. FAA weather sensors include weather radars and automated 

surface observation systems that measure atmospheric parameters, such as surface temperature, 

prevailing wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and cloud bases and tops, as well as wind 

shear and microbursts. These weather sensors provide real-time information to air traffic 

facilities and to NWS centralized weather forecasting models. Weather processing systems 

organize, process, and distribute the sensor’s observed data, matched with forecasts, and blends 

National Airspace System (NAS) operations with weather information. Data from multiple 

sensors feed numerical forecast model ensembles whose output can be disseminated and 

integrated in national and local processing systems to interpret broad weather trends affecting 

aviation operations. This information is then sent to air traffic controllers, traffic flow managers, 

dispatchers, and pilots in a seamless suite of weather tools that look backwards and forwards in 

time and along terminals, intended flight paths, flow corridors, sectors, and regions. 

Weather Sensors 

Weather sensors are divided in two portfolios: Wind-Shear Detection Services (WSDS), and the 

Automated Surface Weather Observation Network 

(ASWON). 

Wind Shear Detection Services 

This portfolio includes the Terminal Doppler Weather 

Radar (TDWR), the Airport Surveillance Radar – 

Weather System Processor (ASR-WSP), the Next 

Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), and the Low 

Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS). All these 

systems automatically detect wind shear conditions 

near runways and approach / departure corridors to 

alert controllers, who can then warn pilots of gust 

fronts and wind shear in the vicinity of the airport. 

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar 

The most sophisticated wind shear detection system is 

the TDWR. There are 46 operational TDWR sites 

serving the largest airports with the most risk of wind 

shear exposure. Using a three-dimensional pencil beam 

A Terminal Doppler Weather Radar 

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and fast update rate, TDWR produce detailed weather information across the entire terminal area 

at the surface and aloft throughout terminal airspace. TDWR unique products include Terminal 

Winds (TWINDS) aloft, as well as high resolution, rapid update of storm cells with height, 

precipitation, surface winds, wind shear, etc. Activities are underway to address sustainment of 

the TDWR and the FAA is investigating whether to incorporate the TDWR functions into the 

NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability (NSWRC). 

Airport Surveillance Radar–Weather System Processor (ASR-WSP) 

The ASR Model-9 and Model-11 Weather Channel detects six-level precipitation and 

thunderstorms that affect aircraft in flight, and the ASR Model-8 displays two-level precipitation. 

Airports with significant wind shear risk that have a lower volume of air traffic may be served by 

a lower cost alternative, such as the ASR-WSP, which processes the surveillance channel for 

weather from the ASR-9. The ASR-WSP detects and alerts on microbursts, wind shear, predicts 

arrival of gust fronts and shows precipitation intensity in a work-alike format to that of the 

TDWR. Activities are underway to address sustainment of these radars and the FAA is 

investigating whether to incorporate the ASR-WSP and ASR Weather Channel functions into the 

NSWRC. 

Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) 

Development of NEXRAD occurred under a joint program of the Department of Commerce 

(DOC) / National Weather Service (NWS), Department of Defense (DoD), and the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA). NEXRAD are national critical assets that support (indirectly) 

most every user of weather information in the United States. These 160 systems are long range, 

Doppler weather radars that detect and produce over 120 different long-range and high-altitude 

weather observation products and special products, including three-dimensional areas of 

precipitation by type, cloud cover by height, storm cells, winds aloft, turbulence, and icing. In 

the short term, we are funding upgrades such as Dual Polarization (Dual Pol) and software 

improvements to further exploit this extensive weather capability. Dual Pol is an important 

addition to NEXRAD that improves detection of rain/snow mix, in-flight icing, hail, non-weather 

biological targets (bird strike concerns), special DoD uses, and is expected to improve the 

forecasting of areas where in-flight icing will occur. Working with our partner agencies, the FAA 

is investigating whether to incorporate planned long-range NEXRAD capabilities into the 

NSWRC. 

Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS) 

LLWAS both supplement radar systems and stands-alone at some sites. LLWAS uses an array of 

wind sensors located around the runway thresholds and along approach/departure corridors to 

measure surface wind direction and velocity. LLWAS compares wind velocity and direction, 

detected across the airport operations area, to determine whether wind shear events are occurring 

at, or near, the runways. LLWAS supplements TDWR at major airports and stands alone at other 

airports that do not have a TDWR or WSP. LLWAS is undergoing service life extension and the 

FAA is investigating whether to incorporate the functionality of these sensors into the NextGen 

Surface Observing Capability (NSOC). 

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Automated Surface Weather Observing Network (ASWON) 

The ASWON portfolio includes several surface sensors (Automated Weather Observing System 

(AWOS), Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS), Automated Weather Sensor Systems 

(AWSS) and Stand Alone Weather Sensing (SAWS)) that measure weather parameters on the 

surface and report conditions to air traffic facilities and pilots. The terminal data they collect is 

important to pilots and dispatchers as they prepare and file flight plans, and the overall surface 

data they collectively provide is vital for weather forecasting. 

Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) 

The ASOS and other variants, such as the AWOS, AWSS and the SAWS system, have up to 14 

individual sensors that measure surface weather data, including temperature, barometric 

pressure, humidity, type and amount of precipitation, cloud bases and amount of sky cover. 

These systems feed data directly to local air traffic control facilities and support automated 

broadcast of weather information to pilots and flight planning. They also provide regular, rapid 

updates for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/NWS forecast 

models that predict future weather conditions including adverse weather. A technical refresh is 

underway to keep these systems operating reliably. The FAA is investigating whether to include 

the functionality of these sensors under a common environment in the NSOC. 

Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator (DASI) 

The Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator (DASI) is a system which measures the atmospheric 

pressure and converts the measured pressure value into the actual sea level pressure based on the 

U.S. Standard Atmosphere. The value computed is known as the Altimeter Setting Indicator 

(ASI) value and is presented to the Air Traffic personnel in a digital format, e.g. 29.98. The 

DASI information is transmitted to pilots and allows them to set the barometric pressure dials of 

aircraft altimeters for reference. 

The local DASI display panels provide a five-digit display of altimeter setting that is viewed on 

the Light Emitting Diode (LED) readout on the front. A keypad (or other means) on the unit 

enables the station altitude and a correction factor (if needed) to be entered into the system 

manually. Up to 10 remote displays may be accommodated. 

Weather Processing Systems 

Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) 

ITWS consolidates weather information from automated surface observing sensors and 

surrounding radars, bundled with NWS forecasts and value-added algorithms such as tornado 

detection and wind shear prediction, to provide real-time aviation weather information for 

terminal control facilities. It also projects movement of thunderstorms and gust fronts up to 20 

minutes into the future. Tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) controllers 

use the information to make more precise estimates of when runways should be closed and 

subsequently reopened. They also use the information to plan for efficient switches in terminal 

arrival patterns, which avoids inefficient maneuvering on taxi ways and on approach and 

departure, to accommodate a runway direction change as aircraft approach an airport. There are 

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34 ITWS Product Generators in-service at over one hundred sites (Air Traffic Control (ATC) 

Towers, TRACONs, Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) and the Air Traffic Control 

System Command Center (ATCSCC)) providing common aviation weather information to 75 

major airports. ITWS will receive a technical refresh in the near-term. The FAA is targeting to 

implement the ITWS functionality in a future NextGen Weather Processor (NWP) work 

package. 

Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS) 

CIWS gathers weather information along the busiest air traffic corridors to help air traffic 

specialists select the most efficient routes when they must divert traffic to avoid severe weather 

conditions. CIWS is a second generation evolution from ITWS and gathers high altitude weather 

information from NEXRAD, ITWS, satellite images, and additional NOAA/NWS sensors to 

widen the common weather picture in between major metropolitan areas and expand en route 

weather situational awareness along busy jetways and air traffic corridors to help air traffic 

specialists select the most efficient routes when they must divert traffic flows to avoid severe 

weather conditions. CIWS adds a winter weather mode, convective initiation, two hour forecast, 

and storm cloud height to help pilots and flow managers better decide whether to fly over or 

around storms. The FAA is targeting to implement the CIWS functionality in the NWP work 

package 1 (WP1).

Weather And Radar Processor (WARP) 

WARP provides NEXRAD precipitation intensity data to controllers’ displays. WARP compiles 

information from many FAA, NWS and commercial weather sources for integrated display to 

ARTCC Traffic Management Unit (TMU) supervisors, sector controller’s briefing terminals, and 

NAS operators of En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), User Request and Evaluation 

Tool (URET), Advanced Technologies & Oceanic Procedures (ATOP), Dynamic Ocean 

Tracking System (DOTS), Alaska Flight Data Processor 2000 (FDP2K) and other automation 

and display systems and web users. WARP serves as a one-stop source for weather interpretation 

by the Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) forecasting stations. Sustainment activities and 

WARP Enhanced Weather Dissemination (EWD) upgrades are underway and the FAA is 

targeting to incorporate WARP functionality into the Common Support Services – Weather 

(CSS-Wx) and the NWP WP1. 

AWOS Data Acquisition System (ADAS)

ADAS collects AWOS, ASOS and AWSS sensor data from hundreds of stations and transmits to 

the Weather Message Switching Center Replacement (WMSCR) for national distribution. ADAS 

correlates lightning ground-strike information to sensor geographic locations and passes this data 

to the sensor for incorporation in the One Minute Observation (OMO). Initiatives in 2012 and 

2013 include support for Automated Lightning Detection and Reporting System (ALDARS) 

Common Lightning format and support for testing of Internet Protocol (IP) sensors. This 

functionality is targeted to be subsumed under a future CSS-Wx work package. 

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Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS)

The Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS) makes available to the aviation community text, 

digital and graphical forecasts, analyses, and observations of aviation-related weather variables. 

ADDS is a joint effort of NCAR Research Applications Program (RAP), Global Systems 

Division (GSD) of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), the National Centers for 

Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Aviation Weather Center (AWC) and the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA). 

The FAA funds and directs the continuing development of ADDS as well as other experimental 

products being developed by the FAA’s Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP). The 

results of the latest ADDS development efforts along with new experimental AWRP algorithm 

results can be viewed on the http://weather.aero/, the Experimental ADDS website. 

The success of ADDS (averages over 10 million hits a day!) has allowed the FAA to showcase 

several important research initiatives including the Current and Forecast Icing Potential, the 

Graphical Turbulence Guidance, and the National Ceiling and Visibility Analysis. It is important 

to note that these products have been through thorough technical reviews and safety risk 

assessments before release on ADDS as operational products. 

Weather Message Switching Center Replacement (WMSCR)

This system, with nodes in Salt Lake City and Atlanta, collects, validates, packages, and 

distributes nationwide weather and Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) information. It is also a 

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) publisher of Pilot Report (PIREP) and Altimeter data 

which distributes One-Minute Observation (OMOs) Data and Lightning Detection Data (LDD) 

to several NAS users. Initiatives in 2012/2013 include migration to a common platform at the 

Network Enterprise Management Center (NEMC) and continuing support of National Airspace 

Data Interchange Network (NADIN) II decommissioning. This functionality is targeted to be 

subsumed under a future CSS-Wx work package. 

Weather Camera Program 

In the state of Alaska, lack of roads between cities, and important commercial/industrial sites 

make General Aviation flying (weather permitting) the only option for rapid outside access. The 

use of small aircraft is essential to everyday life. Limited weather information in Alaska 

contributes to a higher risk of accidents and can result in costly flight inefficiencies without 

means of backup. Without adequate local weather information about their destination airport and 

route of flight, pilots cannot make informed decisions on whether it is safe to fly or to continue 

their flight. Pictorial views of current weather conditions accessible to the aviation community in 

Alaska was established, and the FAA Weather Camera Program has installed aviation weather 

cameras as an aid to Visual Flight Rule (VFR) pilots operating in Alaska. The program funds 

procurement and installation of weather camera sites. Segment 1of this program is intended to 

fund the implementation of camera sites through Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. There are currently 177 

operational camera sites in Alaska with a total goal of 221 operational sites at the end of 

Segment 1. 

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 Aviation Services 

 

Flight Service 

Flight Service’s primary role is to provide weather data, aeronautical information, and flight 

planning services to general aviation pilots. These services are provided by flight service 

specialists via phone or radio, or directly through one of two online web portals. Flight service 

specialists distill the complex, voluminous flight data into critical and comprehensible 

information tailored for a particular flight. Alternatively, pilots accessing preflight information 

directly through a web portal are responsible for sifting through the information on their own. 

The FAA delivers these services through a combination of contract vehicles for services and 

automation systems. 

Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) 

OASIS is a flight service automation system operational at the 17 Flight Service Stations in 

Alaska since 2007 and is owned and supported by Harris Corporation. FAA Air Traffic Control 

Specialists operate OASIS and site level maintenance is performed by FAA Technical 

Operations personnel. OASIS provides integrated textual and weather graphics products, flight 

plan processing, emergency services, law enforcement, flight planning and regulatory 

information and other services as defined in FAA Job Order (JO) 7110.10. A technical refresh 

was completed in May 2012. The contract period of performance ends in December 31, 2014. 

Flight Services for the 21st Century (FS21) 

FS21 is the automation system operational at the 6 Flight Service Stations operated by Lockheed 

Martin Corporation under the Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) contract. FS21 provides 

integrated text and graphical weather products, flight planning and flight plan processing, and 

other services as defined in FAA JO 7110.10. The vendor also provides FAA certified pilot 

weather briefers to operate the system. The contract period of performance ends in September 

30, 2015. 

Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS)

DUATS is an internet based weather information and flight plan processing service that allows 

pilots to obtain flight services without the aid of a Flight Service Specialist. The FAA’s contracts 

for this service include two separate vendors – Data Transformation Corporation (DTC) and 

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). DUATS provides aviation weather in both textual, 

alphanumeric and color graphical formats according to standards defined in FAA JO 7110.10. 

The contract period of performance ends in 2013. 

Contract Weather Observer (CWO) Program

The Contract Weather Observer program was created by the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) in 1995, for the FAA and NWS to provide oversight and program management activities. 

The FAA would provide backup and augmentation to the ASOS, and the NWS would provide 

certification of the CWO personnel and maintenance of the ASOS program. 

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In February 1996, a Service Standards Policy was developed and implemented by the FAA, 

NWS, and industry representatives for airports having an operational ASOS. The FAA then 

assumed sole responsibility for providing program management and supplied operational 

certified Contract Weather Observers to provide back-up and augmentation of the ASOS at 

Service Level A and B airports. At Service Level C airports, the FAA uses Air Traffic Control 

personnel to perform Limited Aviation Weather Reporting System (LAWRS) duties which 

provide back-up for the ASOS. As of July 2012, there are 138 CWO sites and 6 Aviation Paid 

(A-PAID) sites (NWS Interagency Agreement) in the CWO national program. 

Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) 

NextGen is an umbrella term for the ongoing, wide-ranging transformation of the United States' 

NAS to ensure that future safety, capacity and environmental needs are met. NextGen will 

fundamentally change the way air traffic is managed by combining new technologies for 

surveillance, navigation, and communications with workforce training, procedural changes, and 

airfield development. 

NextGen core technologies will allow introduction of new NextGen operational improvements. 

One of these core technologies is the Common Support Services for NAS information for which 

weather (CSS-Wx) is the first offering. 

NextGen requires efficient consolidation of large volumes of weather observations and forecast 

information for processing, dissemination, and integration into decision support system 

algorithms to produce the more sophisticated aviation forecasts of how weather will impact NAS 

operations. Reduce Weather Impact (RWI) addresses these NextGen operational improvements. 

Common Support Services – Weather (CSS-Wx) 

In conjunction with the deployment of the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) 

Enterprise Service, a common information dissemination capability will be deployed for which 

the dissemination of weather is the first offering. This subsumes the major functions ascribed to 

NextGen Networked Enabled Weather (NNEW) and will over time include additional 

information types – aeronautical information, flight information – as these move to new 

information protocols and formats. We are developing the Common Support Services – Weather 

(CSS-Wx), extending the SWIM core services, to enhance the collection and dissemination of 

weather information and provide access to all users throughout the NAS. The FAA is currently 

performing investment analysis activities and in 2013 will make a decision on whether to 

implement CSS-Wx. 

Reduce Weather Impact (RWI) 

RWI will improve aviation weather information to support proactive planning and operations 

rather than adjusting for impacts after the weather has changed. RWI will enable operators to 

safely plan and conduct four dimensional, gate-to-gate, trajectory-based operations to not only 

avoid storm hazards and provide comfortable flight conditions, but also to increase overall 

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efficiency by improving routing/rerouting decision making. RWI provides for the development 

and evaluation of these concepts. There are two portfolios within RWI: Weather Observation 

Improvements (WOI), and Weather Forecast Improvements (WFI). 

Weather Observation Improvements (WOI) 

A consistent and effective aviation weather observation sensor network is fundamental to 

NextGen. WOI will manage the evolution of the existing capability to one that possesses the 

optimal quantity and quality of ground, air and space based sensors. Two concept development 

activities are underway: the NextGen Surface Observing Capability, and the NextGen 

Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability. 

NextGen Surface Observing Capability (NSOC) 

The existing surface weather observation sensor network is comprised of aging, stand-alone 

capabilities. Ongoing technical refreshes and Service Life Extension Programs (SLEP) can keep 

these sensors operating in the near to mid-term. While the current sensor network performs 

adequately, it is becoming increasingly costly to maintain. The NSOC will develop and evaluate 

methods to consolidate existing surface weather observation sensor networks, provide improved 

capability, and allow sensor outputs to be more universally available. Activities in FY12 and 

FY13 include the pre-investment analysis and proof of concept demonstrations associated with 

the Flexible Terminal Sensor Network (FTSN) concept. The FTSN concept addresses the 

terminal environment portion of the NSOC as an enterprise level solution that consolidates 

today's stove-pipe legacy systems into a flexible architecture that maximizes existing 

infrastructure with multi-use sensors to deliver a cost effective capability that preserves legacy 

requirements and is easily adaptable to future NextGen needs. 

NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability (NSWRC) 

Current U.S. weather and aircraft surveillance radar networks vary in age from 10 to more than 

40 years. Ongoing technical refreshes and SLEPs can keep these radars operating in the near to 

mid-term. However as the demands of the NAS increase, it is becoming increasingly clear that 

the present fleet of radars will not be capable of delivering the required functionality in the 

future. The FAA and NOAA have partnered together to develop and evaluate a concept that 

could potentially satisfy the weather and aircraft surveillance requirements of both agencies in 

the future. By leveraging Phased Array Radar (PAR) technology, the government is investigating 

the technical feasibility and affordability of consolidating and modernizing the current network 

of civilian radars to a single Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR). Engineering studies are 

underway to mitigate technical risks and inform a decision in 2017 to implement a radar 

replacement program. 

Weather Forecast Improvements (WFI) 

Weather Forecast Improvements supports the need to improve Air Traffic Management (ATM) 

decision making during adverse weather conditions and to improve the use of aviation weather 

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forecast information in the transformed NAS. Two main efforts are underway, the NextGen 

Weather Processor, and Concepts for Integration of Aviation Weather Information. 

NextGen Weather Processor (NWP) 

The NWP establishes a common weather processing platform that will functionally replace the 

legacy FAA weather processor systems and host new capabilities. As input, NWP uses 

information such as FAA and NOAA radar and sensors and NOAA forecast models. NWP uses 

sophisticated algorithms to create aviation-specific current and predicted weather requiring no 

meteorological interpretation, for publishing via CSS-Wx. It will perform Weather Translation, 

which will enable the use of weather information by automated Decision-Support Tools (DST) 

and processes. The FAA is currently performing investment analysis activities and in 2013 will 

make a decision on whether to implement the NWP WP1. 

Concepts of Integration of Aviation Weather Information 

Currently, NAS weather data is not well integrated into either manual procedures or automated 

decision-support systems. To support the predicted volume of future air traffic operations, 

improvements are needed. Unpredicted changes in weather are of prime concern because of the 

significant impact and disruption they create throughout the entire NAS. The current system does 

not respond well to unpredicted weather situations or to weather conditions that evolve 

differently than expected. This effort will address required improvements to support proactive 

planning operations rather than adjusting for impacts after the weather has changed. Activities in 

2012 include: technical studies to identify required improvements on aviation weather 

information to support other solutions sets (e.g., Time-Based Flow Management (TBFM) and 

Collaborative Air Traffic Management (CATM)), 

development of metrics to assess the impact of weather 

in the NAS, and continuing the development of an 

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 

compliant Quality Management System (QMS). In 

2013 the FAA will continue technical studies for 

improvements to aviation weather information, 

development of metrics, and development of QMS. 

National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for 

Aviation 

Under the auspices of the Office of the Federal 

Coordinator for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research (OFCM), the following agencies 

participate in the interagency Working Group for 

Volcanic Ash (WG/VA) and Committee for Aviation 

Services and Research (CASR): FAA, National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 

NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Air 

Force, and the Smithsonian Institution. The WG/VA 

has prepared a National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan Volcanic ash hazards can be catastrophic to

aviation operations.

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for Aviation. The purpose of the plan is to provide operational guidance by documenting the 

required procedures and information products of the government agencies responsible for 

ensuring safety of flight operations when volcanic ash has erupted into the atmosphere. This 

document also provides information on how the FAA, as the U.S. meteorological authority with 

regard to the ICAO, meets its obligations to the International Airways Volcano Watch, which is 

sponsored by the ICAO. There are several regional plans in addition to the national plan. 

Regional plans are currently in place for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon), 

and the Northern Marianas Islands (draft framework). Future plans are being developed for 

Hawaii, California, and Puerto Rico/Eastern Caribbean. These plans are available on the OFCM 

web site at www.ofcm.gov. Regional plans typically also involve State and local agencies. 

USGS. Through its five Volcano Observatories, the USGS is responsible for monitoring 

volcanoes in the United States and issuing notifications about volcanic activity as it waxes and 

wanes at individual volcanoes. USGS Volcano Observatories use a combination of groundbased, airborne, and space-based techniques to interpret precursory unrest and forecast expected 

volcanic activity (including when eruptions are not expected). Data and notifications of eruptive 

activity from USGS monitoring activities are supplied to FAA and DOD to provide warnings for 

pilots and aircraft operators and to NOAA/NWS to aid in its forecasting and tracking of ash 

clouds. Because of the proximity of Aleutian volcanoes to busy North Pacific air routes, the 

USGS’s Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has been and continues to be a world leader in the 

integration of volcano observatory operations with efforts to mitigate the risk from airborne 

volcanic ash to en route. USGS notifications and warnings about current volcanic activity 

throughout the United States are available to the public at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/. 

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland in the spring of 2010 and ensuing shutdown of 

European airspace focused attention on the global economic disruption that a volcanic ash cloud 

can have on the transportation of people and goods. USGS experts on the issue of airborne 

volcanic ash have been working with FAA, NOAA, and DOD colleagues, as well as with ICAO, 

to improve capabilities in mitigating the impact of the presence of volcanic ash in busy flight 

routes, both domestic and international. USGS also has established a new project that focuses 

exclusively on volcanic ash and brings together USGS efforts in research and development of 

new operational tools. One element of the new project is to collaborate with the NWS in Alaska 

on improving ash fall warnings for the public. The USGS has posted pages on its website 

devoted to practical guidance for dealing with ash hazards to transportation, communications, 

agriculture, water supplies, etc.; see http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ash. 

Recognizing that many potentially dangerous volcanoes have inadequate or no ground-based 

monitoring, the USGS recently evaluated volcano-monitoring capabilities and published “An 

Assessment of Volcanic Threat and Monitoring Capabilities in the United States: Framework for 

a National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS)” (available online at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1164/). Results of the NVEWS volcanic threat and monitoring 

assessment are being used to guide long-term improvements to the national volcano-monitoring 

infrastructure operated by the USGS and affiliated groups. The most threatening volcanoes—

those near communities and transportation infrastructure (ground and air) and with a history of 

frequent and violent eruptions—need to be well monitored in real time with an extensive suite of 

instrument types to detect the earliest symptoms of unrest and to reliably forecast behavior of the 

volcano. Waiting until unrest escalates to augment monitoring capabilities at these high-threat 

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volcanoes puts people (including scientists in the field) and property at undue risk. Remote, 

isolated, or less frequently erupting volcanoes that nevertheless can pose hazards to air-traffic 

corridors require sufficient monitoring capability with ground-based instruments to detect and 

track unrest in real time so that other agencies responsible for en route flight safety can be kept 

apprised of the potential for explosive, ash-cloud-forming eruptions. 

NASA. Through its fleet of satellite assets, NASA is able to rapidly generate and broadly 

disseminate imagery and data products on the location, heights, and densities of ash plumes and 

related hazards. These data products fuel a range of research and applications investigations that 

enhance our knowledge of solid Earth processes, atmospheric transport and composition, and the 

impacts that volcanic eruptions have on the Earth system. Although NASA does not have 

operational responsibility for observation and analysis of volcanic gas and aerosol emissions, its 

fleet of research spacecraft provides data that are directly applicable to the societal hazards 

presented by these phenomena. 

NASA's Earth Science Division currently operates five on-orbit sensors that monitor volcanic 

ash, gases, aerosols, and eruptions. The five sensors currently on orbit are the Cloud-Aerosol 

Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite (CALIPSO), a joint mission between 

NASA and the French space agency CNES; the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)—a 

contribution of the Netherlands's Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR) in collaboration with 

the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)—onboard the Aura satellite; the Moderate Resolution 

Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites; and the Suomi 

National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer 

Suite (VIIRS) and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) onboard. Suomi NPP is in 

partnership with NOAA. NASA-built sensors on NOAA Geostationary Operational 

Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) also 

support volcanic ash monitoring. 

The NASA Science Mission Directorate, Applied Sciences Program, Disaster Area is currently 

responsible for developing satellite data applications for volcanic ash and is focused on research 

which employs these satellite measurements to improve the accuracy of aerosol dispersion 

model forecasts for the VAACS. The NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, 

Aviation Safety Program also conducts volcanic ash research. Its efforts primarily concern two 

areas; airborne detection and characterization of Volcanic Ash, and the determination of 

propulsion system tolerances and thresholds for ingesting volcanic ash for various concentrations 

and exposure periods. This purpose of this research is to assist in improving volcanic ash 

information and operating procedures for operating in or near volcanic ash environments, and to 

develop improved aircraft engines and systems. This also entails a number of related research 

efforts with both DOD and industry partners. 

NOAA. NOAA/NWS is responsible for volcanic ash services in the United States. The program 

is currently managed under the Aviation Services Branch at NWS Headquarters in Silver Spring, 

Maryland. Although the main focus has been and continues to be on the airborne ash hazards 

(mainly impacting aviation), there has been a move in the past several years to expand into an 

“all hazards” approach that incorporates both the NWS Public and Marine Services programs. 

The NWS is a co-lead in the development of regional volcanic ash response plans in the United 

States. Plans are currently in place for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon), and 

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the Northern Marianas Islands. Future plans are being developed for Hawaii, California, and 

Puerto Rico/Eastern Caribbean. These plans are available on the OFCM web site at 

www.ofcm.gov. As noted earlier, NOAA/NWS also operates the Anchorage VAAC and partners 

with NESDIS to operate the Washington VAAC—two of the nine such international centers. 

NOAA/NESDIS is responsible for providing satellite data used in detecting and tracking 

volcanic ash in the atmosphere and is dedicated to providing timely access to global 

environmental data from satellites and other sources to promote, protect, and enhance the 

Nation's economy, security, environment, and quality of life. Many of the operational 

environmental satellites operated by NESDIS (see NOAA/NESDIS in Basic Services section) 

have channels available to help forecasters detect and track volcanic ash. The GOES-R and JPSS 

programs are joint NOAA-NASA programs that will provide more frequent, higher resolution 

imagery for the detection and tracking of volcanic ash beginning in 2015. 

U.S. AIR FORCE. Through its 2nd Weather Group at Offutt AFB, NE, the Air Force Weather 

Agency (AFWA) provides volcanic ash surveillance and analysis for DOD aviation operations 

worldwide. Analysts continuously monitor all active volcanoes, generating more than 4,000 

bulletins per year. In addition to alert text bulletins, AFWA products include tailored satellite 

imagery, and graphical ash plume forecasts. It also provides the necessary expertise, information 

and infrastructure to facilitate critical backup for NOAA's Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory 

Center. Although AFWA has no operational role in civilian sector volcanic ash monitoring and 

forecasting, coordination with other U.S. federal agencies is required to allow DoD flying units 

to maintain maximum operational capability. 

Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, Global Volcanism Program (GVP). GVP 

collects, catalogs, and disseminates information on volcanoes active in the Holocene (last 10,000 

years). GVP supplies the aviation community with unique volcano numbers for seamless 

communication about volcano hazards. GVP also supplies common names, locations, and 

summit elevations. This information appears on aviation reports and some aviation maps---thus 

standardizing international communication regarding eruptive plumes and other hazards. 

Drawing upon information supplied by observatories and the published literature, GVP publishes 

an online monthly report entitled the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network that provides 

detailed information about volcanic systems and eruptions. The USGS and GVP partner to 

release a Weekly Volcano Activity Report. Both reports appear on the GVP website 

(http://www.volcano.si.edu). The website presents key geographical data for all volcanoes, 

eruption chronologies, geological summaries, and reports. In 2013, the website will also allow 

access to GVP’s vast volcano database for public search and download. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

The National Airspace System of the Future 

To address the growing demands on the NAS for the future, the 108th Congress and the George 

W. Bush Administration promulgated and signed into law VISION 100 Century of Aviation 

Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-176). The Vision 100 Act calls for an integrated, multi-agency 

plan to transform the nation’s air transportation system to meet the needs of the year 2025 and 

beyond, while providing substantial near-term benefits. The resulting Next Generation Air 

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Transportation System (NextGen) Initiative will address critical safety and economic needs in 

civil aviation, while fully integrating national defense and homeland security improvements into 

the future NAS. 

NextGen weather development activities will contribute to: (1) Expanded Capacity by providing 

air traffic managers the ability to better plan for predicted weather impacts on air travel, thus 

maximizing air space usage and optimizing flight routes; (2) Improved Safety by providing pilots 

and air traffic managers the ability to better assess and avoid hazards to air travel, such as severe 

turbulence, and (3) Protection of the Environment by enabling flight route optimization on the 

ground and in the air, thereby avoiding ground delays or holding patterns that require 

unnecessary jet fuel expenditure. 

Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) 

The FAA, NASA, and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and 

Transportation, along with the private sector and academic community, are working together 

with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to design and build NextGen. To facilitate 

collaboration and coordinate this work, VISION 100 created the JPDO, which sponsors weather, 

information sharing, and aviation-related study teams to facilitate longer term planning and 

integration of agency capabilities and to support NAS operations. 

NextGen Integration and Implementation Office 

Two principal FAA entities that report to the Senior Vice President for NextGen and Operations 

Planning are focused upon implementation of NextGen: the NextGen Integration and 

Implementation Office and the Aviation Weather Group (AWG). The role of the NextGen 

Integration and Implementation Office is to ensure that the plans for the several NextGen 

strategic thrusts, called solution sets, are coordinated and integrated for efficient near- and 

medium-term implementation across the FAA. These sets include NNEW and the RWI Solution 

Set. NNEW is a transformational program that will address the weather dissemination 

infrastructure within the Air Navigation Service Provider. RWI is focused on improving weather 

observations, weather forecasts, and operational decisions based upon that improved weather 

information by integrating it into manual and automated decision support tools in the NAS. In 

addition to working with the AWG, the RWI Solution Set coordinates the investment analysis 

and acquisition of new weather systems and services within the FAA’s Aviation Weather 

Services Directorate, NOAA/NWS, and other agencies. 

FAA AWG and AWSD Roles in NEXTGEN Transition 

The AWG and AWSD have important roles in the transition from today’s aviation weather 

services to future NNEW, RWI Weather Forecast Improvements, and other NextGen Weather 

Processing capabilities, as the FAA moves from air traffic control to air traffic management

(ATM). In the NextGen system, most communications will occur as digital data, much of it 

transferred directly from computer to computer. Relevant information will be shared easily 

among system users through network-enabled information access. 

The AWSD develops mission need and investment analysis for initial investment decisions for 

FAA aviation weather sensors, forecasting capability, dissemination systems, and integration of 

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improved weather capability into the NAS. The focus is on NextGen, including collaboration 

with Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), with ICAO for advanced aviation weather 

standards, and with all the U.S. agencies involved in NextGen. This work addresses the high cost 

of weather to today’s NAS, where weather is responsible for 70 percent of delays over 15 

minutes and contributes to 24 percent of accidents and 34 percent of fatalities. Up to two-thirds 

of weather delays are avoidable, but despite a continuous flow of improvements available 

through aviation weather science and implementation solutions aimed at providing better 

weather information, weather continues to have significant impacts on aviation costs and safety. 

The purposes of this program are to reduce the number of weather-related aviation accidents; 

reduce aviation flight delays, diversions, and cancellations; improve the operational efficiency of 

the NAS; and harmonize ICAO standard with U.S. practices in aviation weather. 

The NextGen program in AWSD is composed of three elements: 

1. The Concept Identification and Development component generates, analyzes, manages, 

allocates, and validates requirements in the NextGen aviation weather portfolio. It focuses 

on the early stages of requirements from their inception/generation to the investment 

analysis and subsequent requirements decision. It develops transformational (NextGen midterm and far-term capabilities), as well as evolutionary requirements (NextGen near-term 

capabilities). It formulates agreements between government and industry stakeholders on 

policies needed to meet requirements for airborne weather observations, including cost 

sharing, data access and distribution, data reporting frequency, aircraft equipage, and other 

technical issues. Finally, this program develops policies necessary for the allocation of 

roles and responsibilities in the provision of weather state information to meet requirements 

and U.S. commitments to ICAO. 

2. The Global Harmonization component carries out FAA’s role as the U.S. Meteorological 

Authority to ICAO. It promotes global harmonization through the development of ICAO 

Standards and Recommended Practices and manuals/guideline documents for surface and 

airborne observations/forecasts and global dissemination of aviation weather information 

that are supportive of NextGen. This work is accomplished through developing and 

presenting, to 12 ICAO planning, study, and operations groups, U.S. positions on issues 

arising from the ICAO Volcanic Ash program, the World Area Forecast System, the 

international Space Weather program, and amendments to ICAO Annex 3 and other 

guidance material to incorporate the NextGen concept of the 4-D Weather Data Cube. 

3. The System Performance component develops metrics that provide a framework for 

enabling the FAA to measure the benefits of weather information for air traffic operations. 

It maintains standards for surface observations for the backup and augmentation of ASOS. 

The development of NAS weather requirements under this program is an essential artifact of the 

following NextGen documents: the Weather Concept of Operations, the Mission Needs 

Statement for Weather (MNS-339), the Preliminary Portfolio Requirements, and the Final 

Portfolio Requirements. The requirements work in this program feeds later-stage activities, as 

defined by the FAA Acquisition Management System (AMS) lifecycle, of the RWI and NNEW 

portfolios. 

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The Reduce Weather Impact Portfolio 

RWI is a planning and development portfolio to ensure NextGen operational weather capabilities 

utilize a broad range of weather improvements and technologies to mitigate the effects of 

weather in future NAS operations. This portfolio has two major elements: weather observation 

improvements and weather forecast improvements. RWI will address many weather problems 

including, but not limited to, rightsizing the observations network, transition of weather research 

to operations, development of weather impact metrics, development of weather decision support 

tools, integration of weather information into operations, weather processor architecture redesign 

and restructuring, and transition planning for legacy systems. RWI will conduct planning, 

prototyping, demonstrations, engineering evaluation, and investment readiness activities leading 

to an implementation of operational capabilities throughout the NextGen near, mid, and far 

terms. 

A consistent and effective weather observation sensor network will be a cornerstone to improved 

NextGen weather capabilities. Currently the United States has fielded multiple weather surface 

sensor networks that vary in age up to 30 years. Ongoing technical refreshes and SLEPs can keep 

these sensors operating in the near to mid term. However as the demands of the NAS increase in 

the future, the present array of surface sensor systems will not be capable of delivering the 

required functionality. In addition, potential NextGen weather observation requirements might 

exceed current surface sensing capabilities (e.g., improved weather model initialization for 

increased weather forecast accuracy). Current surface observation systems also contain 

considerable overlap and waste that should be engineered out of the NAS. RWI weather 

observation improvements will explore concepts for a next-generation surface sensing capability 

that can satisfy all current surface sensing requirements in a single system and be easily 

expandable to meet any future NextGen requirements. 

The second RWI element, weather forecast improvements, addresses the need to enable better 

weather decision-making and use of weather information in the transformed NAS. This need 

includes: (1) integrating weather information tailored for decision support tools and systems into 

NextGen operations, (2) implementing improved forecasts by transitioning advanced forecast 

capabilities from aviation weather research, (3) developing and using metrics to evaluate the 

effectiveness of weather improvements in the NAS, (4) developing probabilistic forecasts that 

can be effectively used in air traffic and traffic flow management, and (5) determining the most 

effective solution for a processor architecture to support these capabilities. RWI will propose 

recommendations for near, mid, and far time frames, including a recommendation for transition 

of legacy systems. 

Collectively the effect of the NextGen RWI portfolio will result in aviation weather information 

no longer being just a stand-alone display, requiring cognitive interpretation and impact 

assessment, with limited ability to significantly mitigate delays. Instead, weather information is 

being designed to integrate with and support NextGen decision-oriented automation capabilities 

and human decision-making processes. 

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The NextGen 4-Dimensional Weather Data Cube and Single Authoritative Source 

NextGen weather development activities will contribute to: (1) Expanded Capacity by providing 

air traffic managers the ability to better plan for predicted weather impacts on air travel, thus 

maximizing air space usage and optimizing flight routes; (2) Improved Safety by providing pilots 

and air traffic managers the ability to better assess and avoid hazards to air travel, such as severe 

turbulence, and (3) Protection of the Environment by enabling flight route optimization on the 

ground and in the air, thereby avoiding ground delays or holding patterns that require 

unnecessary jet fuel expenditure. 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

NOAA’s commitment to the NextGen initiative will result in the development and deployment 

of the NextGen 4-Dimensional (4-D) Weather Data Cube. The “4-D” references weather from 

the surface up to aircraft flight altitudes, extending north-south and east-west, and including 

current and future conditions. The Cube will provide users more discoverable and interoperable 

weather data from various locations through a single access point using modern internet 

protocols and technologies. This Data Cube is not a physical database; instead it consists of: 

a. An information technology infrastructure comparable to those already employed by other 

government agencies and by industry which is flexible and extensible to keep pace with 

user’s weather information needs in a rapidly changing technological environment. The 

greater and easier access to NOAA weather information for aviation decision-makers 

enabled by the 4-D Weather Data Cube will facilitate better integration of this 

information into aviation users’ decision-making processes and systems. 

b. Aviation weather information data sets, consistent in time, space and among weather 

elements, providing a complete picture of how weather will impact aviation across the 

NAS. 

c. More accurate aviation weather information, achieved through higher resolution weather 

models, will improve air traffic managers’ ability to fine-tune their assessment of the 

impact of the weather on airports and air routes to safely maximize available air space. 

d. Advanced aviation forecast generation techniques and advanced tools and techniques to 

allow NWS meteorologists to generate aviation weather information faster and more 

accurately. 

The Single Authoritative Source (SAS) identifies the preferred data source to be used to support 

collaborative air traffic management decisions. It is an optimal representation of all Air 

Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) required weather state information derived from the 

NextGen 4-D Weather Data Cube. A subset of the data published to the 4-D Weather Data Cube 

will be designated as the SAS. The SAS will be used directly or translated into products 

depicting operational impact by the ANSP and will be accessible to all users of the NAS. The 

ANSP will specify characteristics of weather state information needed to support its ATM 

decision-making and the corresponding decision support tools. The NWS will, in coordination 

with the U.S. Air Force and Navy weather services, determine what weather state information 

best meets the SAS requirements specified by the ANSP. Information from any source, including 

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commercial sources, can be used to meet SAS requirements as long as it can be freely distributed 

to all. 

With rare exceptions, the SAS will be the only source of weather information for the ANSP’s 

ATM decisions; however, it will not necessarily be the only source for other decision-makers, 

such as pilots, dispatchers, and military operators. Making the SAS both a support tool for the 

ANSP’s ATM decisions and a NextGen resource provides both transparency and predictability in 

these decisions and shared situational awareness for all NextGen participants. 

The NextGen 4-D Weather Data Cube will be part of an integrated multi-agency architecture for 

weather information dissemination. The Cube information will be available to users of the NAS 

and to the FAA Air Traffic Management community through Common Support Services – 

Weather Program (CSS-Wx), formerly known as NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW). 

While the Cube implements common weather data services on the NOAA side, CSS-Wx will 

implement these common data services within the FAA enterprise, and will utilize the weather 

data and information from the Cube for use in weather impact decisions for aviation. 

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

Within NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Global Systems 

Division of the Earth Science Research Laboratory (ESRL/GSD) develops and evaluates aviation 

weather impact variables such as icing, turbulence, ceiling and visibility, convective weather, 

and volcanic ash as part of its development of algorithms and decision tools for NWS forecast 

offices, FAA traffic managers, and commercial and civil aviation. Specifically, GSD has and will 

continue to develop capabilities to allow the forecaster to integrate, view, and manipulate 

observations from current and planned meteorological sensing systems using computer-assisted 

data display and synthesis techniques. 

For NextGen, the FAA is supporting GSD in developing capability to move relevant observation 

and forecast information into and out of the 4D Wx Data Cube (see detailed description above, in 

the FAA section of Aviation Services/Supporting Research Programs and Projects). Data 

quantity, update frequency, timeliness, and latency are important performance considerations for 

this capability, which will become part of NNEW and the 4D Wx SAS (see descriptions above). 

GSD is working with the NWS, with funding from NOAA, to determine the best ways to 

populate the 4D Wx Data Cube with accurate, timely, and consistent observations and forecasts. 

Key areas of this effort include assessing the human role in the forecast process, evaluating the 

accuracy of these forecasts, development of operational forecasting concepts for the aviation

impact variables, and putting all of these efforts together by creating a prototype dynamic 4D Wx 

Data Cube and its SAS subset. 

GSD is developing and testing applications for providing Impact-based Decision Support 

Services (IDSS). Aviation operations in the future will require applications that allow skillful 

analysis, data fusion, and data mining capabilities to better analyze and interrogate large volumes 

of data. Integrated applications are necessary to enable forecasters to quickly determine what 

matters to the decision makers, translate forecast uncertainty into confidence information, and 

intervene in the forecast process as necessary to add value and produce official forecasts. GSD 

has been developing and testing concepts leading to integrated applications linking the Aviation 

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Weather Center (AWC) forecasts to air traffic flow restriction decisions performed by the Traffic 

Flow Manager (TFM). GSD has developed techniques and approaches that infuse various 

weather information with air route and aviation safety information, use historical forecast 

performance information to establish an environment for common situational awareness, and 

developed sophisticated data mining tools and display capabilities that allow identification of 

high-impact weather events. 

Improvements in weather and climate prediction are tied to developing and running finer scale 

weather forecast models and model ensembles on increasingly powerful High-Performance 

Computing Systems (HPCS). However, NOAA does not have sufficient HPCS capacity to 

support its current research or operational requirements. Central Processing Unit-based (CPUbased) HPCS computing is growing more expensive as hundreds of thousands of CPU cores are 

being combined to provide increased compute capacity. These large CPU-based systems require 

large and expensive facilities and infrastructure to provide sufficient power and cooling ($5M for 

construction and $1M annually to run). Given tight federal budgets, CPU-based systems are, 

therefore, increasingly unaffordable. GSD is exploring the use of Graphics Processing Unitbased (GPU-based) systems, which can be 10-25 times faster than CPU-based systems, to run 

NWP models. By using GPU-based systems, savings to NOAA for facilities space, 

infrastructure, and electrical costs can be substantial. 

The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is participating in the effort to help quantify 

NOAA’s support for the NextGen initiative. Planning with the FAA and the NWS began in FY 

2009 and is anticipated to continue for the next several years. NSSL is also working with the 

FAA’s AWRP to develop weather radar applications that enhance the safety and efficiency of the 

aviation community and the NAS. Work is focused on both convective weather and winter 

weather, with special attention to treating all WSR-88D radars within the continental United 

States as a single network. Such treatment allows NSSL to produce a single, authoritative 3D 

grid of radar data, combined with rain gage and satellite data for inclusion in the 4D Wx Data 

Cube. This Multi-Radar, Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system is currently being planned for 

operational implementation within the NCEP/EMC development environment as part of the 

future regional analysis and forecast system. Intensive research is also directed to polarimetric 

radar applications unique to aviation needs. Examples using WSR-88D dual-pol radar data 

include wintertime quantitative precipitation estimation, detection of icing (supercooled liquid 

water) conditions and winter precipitation type (snow, sleet, freezing raing, etc.) and data quality 

issues unique to FAA users. Work has also begun to bring in radar data from networks in other 

countries/regions to provide information in the 4D Wx Data Cube for regions outside the United 

States. 

The NextGen Network Enabled Weather Program 

NNEW is part of an interagency effort to provide quick, easy, and cost effective access to 

weather information by all aviation users. NNEW will define and provide the FAA’s portion of 

the interagency infrastructure used to support the 4-D Weather Data Cube, which will contain all 

relevant weather information needed to support operational aviation decisions by the FAA. The 

4-D Weather Data Cube consists of weather data published in various databases within FAA, 

NOAA, and DOD, as well as commercial weather data providers that may participate. NNEW 

provides: (1) registries/repositories needed to locate and retrieve published data in the Data 

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Cube, (2) the capability to translate among various standards that will be employed and to 

provide data in user-required units and coordinate systems, and (3) the capability to support 

retrieval requests for data volumes (such as along a flight trajectory). 

Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) Program 

One of the weather-related goals of NextGen is to reduce weather delays, allowing more efficient 

and flexible traffic management. The primary objectives of the WTIC program are to: (1) reduce 

workloads for pilots, flight crews, and the ATM in support of efforts to increase NAS capacity; 

(2) support NextGen and other near-, mid-, and far-term programs needs for the availability of 

enhanced meteorological (MET) information; (3) eliminate MET information gaps and meet user 

needs; to more efficiently use existing data link bandwidth; and (4) reduce ambiguity in 

transmitted MET information. Additional objectives are (1) to support increased efficiency via 

timelier decisions in adverse weather and more optimum routes from enhanced wind and 

temperature information and (2) to reduce the likelihood of recurrence of specific weatherrelated incidents, including those reported in the Aviation Safety Reporting System as well as 

other safety reporting systems. 

The initial WTIC research evaluated the overarching NextGen Concept of Operations and 

requirements for NextGen weather support on the flight deck, identified the current capabilities 

to meet NextGen requirements, evaluated planned and funded development of new weather 

support capabilities, and identified gaps between NextGen requirement and current developing 

weather support capabilities. Since WTIC requires data links to support the dissemination of 

MET information to users in various coverage environments, the program is researching required 

data link capability for bandwidth, security, quality of service, and reliability. Based on the 

results of this WTIC research, the program will develop functional and performance 

requirements for cockpit integration of MET information; guidance on the rendering of MET 

information in the cockpit; and recommended data link architectures for uplinking, downlinking, 

and crosslinking MET information. 

In addition, WTIC human factors research will enable the development of human performance, 

technology design, and human-computer interaction requirements and standards to enable safe, 

efficient, and cost-effective operations and training. The human factors research will attempt to 

identify shortcomings in current capabilities in order to focus weather technology advancements 

on optimizing safety and efficiency for flight operations under Parts 91, 121, and 135 of the 

Federal Aviation Regulations. 

The information management and human factors research deliverables will enable the 

development of Air Circulars and Orders for NextGen training, symbology, and information 

standards; support the development of aircraft certification standards for Minimum Aviation 

Safety Performance Standards (MASPS), Minimum Operations Standards (MOPS), and 

Technical Standard Orders (TSO) to support development, operations, and procedures for 

weather technologies in the cockpit. In addition, the WTIC program research will support the 

development of the communications information management to include storage and retrieval 

requirements and standards to acquire MET information from commercial and governmentprovided graphical and textual databases. 

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NextGen Wake Turbulence 

This research has the objective of determining the NAS infrastructure requirements (ground and 

aircraft) for implementing the NextGen trajectory-based operations and high density concepts 

within the constraints of aircraft-generated wake vortices and aircraft collision risk. 

Federal Aviation Administration 

The FAA Aviation Weather Research includes the Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) 

and Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) Program. The AWRP program will continue 

research into understanding the geophysical phenomena in the atmosphere and around airports 

that present hazardous conditions for aircraft operations. Among these hazards are in-flight 

icing, convective weather, turbulence, ceiling, visibility, volcanic ash, summer and winter storm 

activity, etc. Additional work is being done to improve models and in developing advanced 

weather radar techniques. 

Observations 

Liquid Water Equivalence (LWE) Rate Measurement & Reporting-Surface Snow/ Ice 

At airports in cold climates, a ground anti-icing/de-icing program is an essential pre-takeoff 

service. Decision making in a ground anti-icing/deicing program is the responsibility of the pilot. 

Pilots need to have the most accurate airport weather observation information available to 

support their ground anti-icing/deicing program decisions. Recent weather research has provided 

compelling evidence that snow precipitation intensity, which is currently determined by a 

visibility-based method only, can be more accurately determined by measuring the Liquid Water 

Equivalent (LWE) rate and providing this information as part of the airport weather observation. 

Pilots can use this enhanced information to more accurately determine their hold-over times. To 

capitalize on the federal government’s investment in ASOS, a cost effective way to provide this 

LWE rate capability is to implement it in ASOS. The FAA is currently pursuing ways to provide 

this capability in ASOS. This improvement will enhance aircraft and passenger safety and 

support traffic flow management. The FAA is also pursuing development of a commercial LWE 

Rate System. 

Advanced Weather Radar Techniques (AWRT) 

The AWRT research focuses on monitoring and improving the quality of information derived 

from the Weather Surveillance Radar 88D (WSR-88D), TDWR, and Canadian and Mexican 

weather radar networks. To properly initialize convective weather, turbulence, icing and 

numerical weather prediction products it is critical that ingested weather radar data be of high 

quality. In Fiscal Years 12 and 13 the AWRT research will be focused on developing quality 

control techniques that ensure weather radar information is free from false weather returns 

caused by biologicals, clutter, or out of tolerance radars. Further research involves monitoring 

the benefits from the recently fielded WSR-88D dual polarization capability and ongoing efforts 

towards improving the quality of Canadian weather radar data that is being incorporated into 

various air traffic management tools will continue. 

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The AWRT research also involves techniques for mitigating gaps in individual weather radar 

networks via seamlessly integrating all weather radar networks together to form a high 

resolution, three dimensional mosaic. This work has produced the Multi Radar Multi Sensor 

(MRMS) capability. Operating at a thirty second update rate and 1 Kilometer (KM) resolution, 

in Fiscal Years (FYs) 12 and 13 the MRMS will continue to provide high resolution mosaic input 

to several FAA AWRP efforts, as well as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADSB), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS), and air 

traffic modeling and simulation research efforts at the William J. Hughes Technical Center 

(WJHTC). 

Forecasts and Modeling 

In-Flight Icing 

This research is aimed at developing improvements to in-flight icing diagnosis and forecasting 

with a goal of reducing the rate of aircraft icing related accidents and fatalities for aircraft 

operations in the NAS. Over the continental United States, the Current Icing Product (CIP) and 

Forecast Icing Product (FIP) have been developed to provide hourly updates of current and 

forecast in-flight icing conditions out to 12 hours. These products include probability and 

severity of icing conditions, as well as super-cooled large drop potential. CIP and FIP products 

are available to all NAS users on NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center’s (AWCs) Aviation Digital 

Data Service (ADDS) website which provides comprehensive user-friendly aviation weather 

graphics including icing, turbulence, and convection. Current research efforts include 

development of a current and forecast icing product for Alaska, and development of enhanced 

icing weather diagnosis and forecast algorithms using weather parameters including liquid water 

content, drop size, and temperature. The latter research effort called Model of Icing Conditions 

for Real-Time Operations (MICRO) will be used to produce future ice accretion products that 

will likely apply to a particular class of aircraft (prop, turboprop, jet, etc) for use in the NAS by 

pilots and flight crews in avoiding hazardous icing areas. Planned future efforts also include 

development of a global (oceanic routes) forecast icing product. Research to enhance efficiency 

and safety during winter terminal operations through the development of a prototype for Liquid 

Water Equivalent Rate System (LWES) specification for determining holdover times more 

accurate than those from currently used visibility tables was completed in FY2011. Results from

this research are being incorporated into the Terminal Area Icing Weather Information System 

(TAIWIS), a project begun in FY 2012. The goal of the TAIWIS effort is to develop a 

comprehensive terminal area ground and in-flight icing weather product (for use by air traffic, 

flight crews, and ground de-icing operations) to provide terminal area icing weather information 

for operational decision making. 

Convective Weather 

Convective weather is a critical area of research due to the considerable impact it has on NAS 

operations. These storms cause significant problems in the NAS by contributing to delays, 

diversions and cancellations, along with well documented effects on safety and capacity. The 

FAA’s AWRP Program seeks to address this problem by: (1) Exploring how thunderstorm 

information is used to make decisions and assessing the need for improved information; (2) 

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Increasing the fundamental understanding of how thunderstorms form, behave, and impact the 

NAS; and (3) Developing advanced thunderstorm analysis and predictive capabilities. 

The following research projects will be underway in the 2012-2013 time frame: (1) Understand 

the convective forecast uncertainty needs of NAS Air Traffic Management; (2) Enhance high 

resolution forecast models to improve short-term convective forecasts; (3) Improve the 

prediction of large-scale convective storms in the 1-12 hour time frame; (4) Understand users’ 

needs for lightning detection and improve lightning forecasting capabilities; and (5) Develop and 

advance convective weather hazard guidance for oceanic regions. In addition to the specific 

areas of research identified above, convective weather research will also support the initiatives of 

the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) community and work to improve the prediction of 

other convective weather hazards such as hail, wind shear, and turbulence. 

The AWRP also developed Consolidated Storm Prediction for Aviation (CoSPA), which is a 

high-resolution automated thunderstorm forecast capability. CoSPA maintains the look and feel 

of the Corridor Integrated Weather System, but provides seamless forecasts of precipitation and 

echo tops out to 8 hours for the strategic air traffic management time frame. It utilizes the 3 KM 

High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model to resolve storm structure and blends the HRRR 

forecasts with high resolution storm extrapolation to create an integrated 8 hour forecast. It is 

interpreted like radar reflectivity, but also provides gridded outputs for future integration into Air 

Traffic Management Decision Support Tools. CoSPA was evaluated by ATM users over two 

summers and was found to provide useful information; changes to improve its meteorological 

performance were incorporated in response to user comments and an objective performance 

assessment. While it has been transitioned to the Program Management Organization (PMO) for 

proof of concept and risk mitigation planning, the FAA will consider additional research on 

CoSPA if collaborated with and supported by the PMO. 

Turbulence 

This research has focused on producing a system of real-time turbulence nowcasts and 

probabilistic forecasts of turbulence. The method utilized in meeting these objectives is a 

turbulence forecasting task in conjunction with two supporting sensor tasks: one for in-situ 

detection of turbulence and the second for remote sensing of turbulence. The in situ task has 

resulted in the deployment of an aircraft-based Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR) turbulence 

detection algorithm on aircraft at United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Current efforts include 

deployment at Southwest Airlines. The remote sensing task has targeted the use of data from the 

NEXRAD radar network. Data from the NEXRAD Turbulence Detection Algorithm, currently 

operational on NEXRAD, will be used as input for the production of a turbulence analysis 

(nowcast) product. 

From April 2009-January 2011, the FAA funded the EDR Proof of Concept Demo at Delta Air 

Lines. The Demo examined the potential safety, efficiency, and capacity benefits gained by 

providing enhanced turbulence forecasts and EDR information to airline dispatchers and to the 

flight crew via the dispatchers. A limited NAS Cost Benefits Analysis was conducted as part of 

this effort. 

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A separate effort, the Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) Turbulence/EDR Uplink 

Demonstration, is assessing the feasibility of using a low-cost device for the displaying of 

turbulence forecasts and EDR information in the cockpit for direct use by the flight crew. This 

task will provide a more complete Cost Benefits Analysis of the use of the turbulence data in the 

flight deck. 

Ceiling and Visibility (C&V) 

This research has focused on developing automated ceiling and visibility products to support 

current needs and future NextGen requirements for improvements in safety and terminal area 

traffic flow efficiency. C&V research will provide NAS users with more accurate forecasts of 

ceiling and visibility conditions, both in terms of the timing of low ceilings and visibility and the 

forecast measurement of the ceilings and visibility. Timing and measurement then translates into 

impact. C&V can significantly disrupt airport and terminal operations. These range from 

impacting the airport acceptance rate to, in more severe cases, closing the airport. The FAA is 

working with the NWS to develop a procedure to inject newly developed model data into the 

existing NWS weather models. This development would then be used as a conduit for a 

technology infusion for terminal C&V forecasts, area forecasts and provide Air Navigation 

Service Providers (ANSPs) and users with more accurate and timely information on current and 

future C&V conditions. The C&V analysis will use frequent updates to closely track observed 

conditions and update the user display. C&V forecast information will be provided hourly in 

both probabilistic and deterministic form, and will support both human users and future 

automated decision support systems. Also developed, under AWRP, is the Helicopter Emergency 

Medical Service (HEMS) display tool that is operationally available for use by emergency 

helicopter crews to provide a quick look capability as a No-Go decision aid. New HEMS 

capabilities planned for FY 12 and 13 include creating a meteogram, or observation trending 

tool, adding a shaded relief background and the capability for line and point navigation 

functionality so the user can tailor to their needs. 

Volcanic Ash Forecasts 

The FAA continues to lead the U.S.’s efforts to ensure the nation’s air transportation system 

maintains an excellent safety record for operations in air space contaminated with volcanic ash. 

Following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010, the FAA 

participated in the ICAO Volcanic Ash Task Force; the largest international task force ever 

assembled to develop a global safety risk management framework to determine safe levels of 

operation in airspace contaminated by volcanic ash and deal with the issues from large volcanic 

eruptions that disrupt global air transportation. That volcanic event, which lasted 39 days, 

caused the largest disruption to aviation since the Second World War. 

The FAA is taking the lead, in cooperation with other U.S. agencies and international partners, in 

the following areas and initiatives: 

• Development of a Concept of Operations for volcanic ash information in support of air traffic 

operations and management 

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• Development of a collaborative forecasting model to support the information exchange and 

collaboration between various Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers as well as Meteorological Watch 

Office, Air Navigation Service Providers, and Airline Operations Centers in volcanic ash cloud 

analysis and forecasts 

• Support the initiative for the first engine test program for volcanic ash 

Other efforts supported by various U.S. agencies and international partners include: 

• Continued research efforts to improve volcanic ash dispersion and transport models which are 

key to providing improved forecasts of the location of ash clouds 

• Improvements in volcano monitoring and the detection and reporting of volcano eruptions 

The successful completion of these programs will result in improvements to the air transportation 

system which will reduce the economic impacts from large volcanic eruptions and ensure no 

decline in safety. 

Model Development and Enhancement (MD&E) 

This AWRP research is targeted at developing and improving weather prediction models and 

data assimilation systems to better characterize the state of the atmosphere with the goal of 

providing superior aviation weather information to enhance NAS safety and capacity. These 

assimilation and prediction systems utilize all the latest weather observations and most modern 

supercomputers to create the most accurate and timely depiction of the future state of the 

weather. The future weather information output from these computer models serves as the 

underpinning for virtually all weather guidance beyond the first hour. 

This research has been a collaborative partnership of the FAA, NOAA, NCAR, the Center for the 

Analysis and Prediction of Storms, the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Naval Research 

Laboratory to build the state-of-the-art Grid-point Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data 

assimilation system and Weather research and Forecast (WRF) modeling framework. A key 

result has been the 2012 implementation into NWS operations of the hourly-updated Rapid 

Refresh (RAP) weather prediction system. This system has yielded better wind forecasts and 

improved diagnoses and forecasts of weather hazardous to aviation, including en-route 

turbulence, convective weather, in-flight icing, and restricted visibility, over an expanded 

domain including Alaska. 

Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) 

The overall objective of the NextGen - WTIC Program is to successfully accomplish a portfolio 

of research projects to develop, verify, and validate requirements to support airworthy standards. 

The projects will enable availability and improve the quality and quantity of Meteorological 

(MET) information available to the aircraft to enhance safety and efficiency in commercial, 

business, and general aviation operations and to support NextGen operational improvements. 

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The WTIC program addresses the need to enable better weather decision making and use of 

MET information in the transformed NAS. This includes identifying MET information 

requirements and a recommended architecture for disseminating that information to aircraft for 

pilot use or direct integration into NextGen cockpit decision support tools and systems. The 

program will define the necessary MET information and its presentation to safely and efficiently 

incorporate it into collaborative decision making relative to adverse weather decisions. The 

research projects in the WTIC portfolio are organized by four structural elements: Standards 

Support, Flight Deck Information, Human Factors, and Air/Ground Integration. A brief summary 

of a few research projects in each structural element are detailed in the following subsections. 

Standards Support 

The WTIC program works closely with multiple RTCA committees. The most extensive support 

is provided to RTCA SC206 and their efforts to develop recommendations for data link 

architecture and the dissemination of MET information between aircraft and ground users. 

WTIC program standards support also includes participating in the SAE G-10 effort to develop a 

standard symbology for the presentation of MET information in the cockpit. The WTIC program 

will perform evaluations of the SAE G-10 recommended symbology. 

Flight Deck Information 

The WTIC Wind Diagnosis project is focused on defining elements of wind quality that impact 

NextGen application programs and performing simulations to assess those impacts based on 

varying wind quality. 

The Cloud Top Heights - Human over the Loop Demonstration (HOTL) will assess the impacts 

to decision making in a collaborative environment of providing cloud top data in oceanic and 

data sparse areas. 

The Mobile Application project is researching MET information that provides benefits to the 

cockpit when presented on a mobile application. This project is also researching limitations of 

existing technology to support the concept of operation for this mobile application. 

Human Factors 

The Standardization Assessment project is performing a quantitative assessment of the impacts 

of non-standardized MET presentations for General Aviation (GA) displays. This research 

consists of three groups of pilots flying a GA simulator with one of three common MET 

presentations. Researchers then measure variations in performance and multiple human factors 

parameters such as eye fixations. 

A second human factors project is working with the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) to perform detailed callbacks on Aviation Safety Reporting System 

(ASRS) incident reports that identify weather or data linked MET information as a contributing 

factor. 

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The WTIC program is also performing research to develop inputs for improving pilot training 

relative to MET information and new MET technology. 

Air/Ground Integration 

Research in this structural element includes modeling generic versions of common data links 

(e.g. Immarsat) to assess their bandwidth, latency, and other quality factors related to their 

capability to disseminate MET information. 

The Uplink of Advanced Weather Radar Mosaic project is assessing the potential benefits and 

the feasibility of uplinking weather mosaics to the cockpit and to downlink sensor data from 

aircraft to enhance the quality of the mosaics. 

World Area Forecast System (WAFS) 

The FAA/NWS, as a WAFS Provider State, supports the provision of global gridded data for 

wind, temperature and humidity in support of flight planning purposes for the International Civil 

Aviation Organization. Also included is the provision of, Significant Weather (SIGWX) in 

digital and chart-format, and the new forecasts for global gridded forecasts of icing, turbulence 

and cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds, as well as Operational aeronautical Meteorological (OPMET) 

data. A key obligation for the WAFS is the global dissemination of these products which is 

provided by the joint agreement between the FAA/NWS to operate the WAFS Internet World 

Area Forecast System File Service. There are more than 100 authorized users from the ICAO 

Asia/Pacific Region and Caribbean/South American Region who have access to the above 

products/information in support of U.S.’s responsibility to provide a flight document folder for 

flight planning. 

International Obligations 

The FAA is the Meteorological Authority for the U.S. and establishes the requirements for 

meteorological services provided by the NWS to support international air navigation, as required 

by ICAO’s Annex 3, Meteorological Services for International Air Navigation. As part of the 

requirements process the FAA, as a member of several ICAO meteorological groups, represents 

U.S. interests and strives for global harmonization of meteorological products and services. The 

FAA is the voting member on ICAO’s World Area Forecast System Operations Group, ICAO’s 

International Airways Volcano Watch Operations Group, ICAO’s Aerodrome Meteorological 

Observation and Forecast Study Group, ICAO’s Meteorological Warnings Study Group, and 

ICAO’s Meteorological Aeronautical Requirements and Information Exchange Project Team. 

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CLIMATE SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

Climate services are provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 

(NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), through the National Centers for Environmental 

Prediction’s (NCEP) Climate Prediction Center (CPC), the NWS Climate Services Division 

(CSD), and more than 150 NWS regional and local offices nationwide. CPC provides a broad 

range of products and services related to climate monitoring, short-term climate fluctuation 

forecasts, and information on the impacts of climate patterns on the Nation. Its product suite 

spans time scales from a week to seasons, extending into the future as far as technically feasible, 

and covers the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere. CPC products and services are available to 

government, public, and private industry users, both in this country and abroad, and are used by 

NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to deliver climate services to local users. The regional 

and local offices also have responsibility for collecting climate data, developing locally-relevant 

products, and conducting local climate studies in response to user needs. Applications include 

the mitigation of weather-related natural disasters and uses for social and economic good in 

agriculture, energy, transportation, water resources, and health. 

CSD provides the strategic vision for climate services at NWS, oversees the climate program, 

including the expanded regional and local climate services programs, and serves as steward of 

the climate observing system. CSD develops training, education, and outreach programs that 

provide state-of-the-art knowledge and tools to enhance the skill set of NOAA employees and 

users of climate information. CSD fosters ties with other countries, other NOAA offices, other 

Federal agencies, the university community, and the private sector. It encourages collaborative 

arrangements among Regional Climate Centers (managed by NOAA/National Environmental 

Satellite, Date and Information Service [NESDIS]), State Climatologists, and NWS WFOs and 

regional headquarters to meet the needs for climate information of their local users. Additionally, 

WFOs issue daily and monthly climate reports for their areas of responsibility, providing 

localized information about temperature and precipitation records and extreme events such as 

droughts. WFOs serve as the local NOAA user interface for climate services, including outreach 

and education. They are also responsible for the integrity and continuity of the historical climate 

record for their area of responsibility. 

FOR PURPOSES OF THIS Federal Plan, Climate Services are specialized meteorological 

and hydrological services established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local 

agencies for information on the historical, current, and future state of the earth system. 

Climate services include observations, monitoring, assessments, predictions, and projections 

of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and land surface systems. 

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NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center 

The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the largest climate data center in the world. 

NCDC receives, processes, archives, and disseminates surface, marine, upper-air, radar, satellite, 

and model output data. NCDC serves a large and diverse community, responding to more than 

one million information requests per year. It makes environmental data and information available 

through both the Internet and physical delivery of products and services. NCDC’s climate data 

products support decision making in many sectors of the economy, including energy, 

transportation, agriculture, insurance, engineering, health care, and manufacturing. 

NCDC also develops climatic applications for other government agencies, including the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 

and the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE). In addition, NCDC scientists are key 

participants in numerous national and international climate assessments, including the 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, the U.S. Climate Change Science 

Program’s Synthesis and Assessment Products, and the landmark 2009 report, Global Climate 

Change Impacts in the United States. These assessment activities exemplify the kind of work and 

impact through which NCDC carries out its mission. Through its participation in these 

assessments and through dialogue with users, NCDC actively identifies the needs of NOAA data 

users in addressing climate change. NCDC also works to implement and operate the nation’s 

premier surface climate observing system, the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN), 

which operates 114 stations in the continental United States and accurately measures, with high 

precision, surface temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and temperature, and relative 

humidity. The expansion of the USCRN into Alaska has been underway since 2009 and will be 

completed by 2018. There are also 2 experimental stations in Hawaii. 

NCDC teams developed business sector fact sheets that have been widely distributed for 12 

sectors, including Agriculture, Civil Infrastructure, Coastal Hazards, Energy, Health, Insurance, 

Litigation, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, National Security, Tourism, Transportation, and 

Water Resources. During 2010 alone, sector team members participated in over 50 sectoral 

meetings and hosted or co-hosted nine workshops. Through these venues, the sector teams 

interact with users interested in climate data and applications for their sector, in order to better 

understand specific sector needs for climate information. This proactive approach increases 

NCDC’s ability to provide relevant climate data to address sector-specific needs. Sector 

customers such as the reinsurance and agriculture industries have noted that NCDC’s data 

holdings and expertise enable them to make better business decisions, save money, improve their 

products, expand their businesses, and reduce their impact on the environment. 

Release of the 2010 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society State of the Climate 

Report. For the 22nd year, NOAA led the coordination, drafting, and communication of the 2010 

State of the Climate Report, published in July 2011 in the Bulletin of the American 

Meteorological Society. The State of the Climate Report documents the status of the climate 

system and the capacity to observe it. This assessment is based upon observed conditions in more 

than 40 aspects of the climate system. More than 365 authors from 45 countries contributed to 

the 2010 edition. NCDC scientists and graphics professionals led the editorial construction and 

composition of the 272-page report. The report and other related materials can be found on-line 

at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/. 

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Release of the 2011 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society State of the Climate is 

schedued for July 2012, (23rd year). NOAA led the coordination, drafting, and communication 

of the State of the Climate Report, published with the July 2012 edition of the Bulletin of the 

American Meteorological Society. The 2011 Report is authored by 378 authors from 48 

countries. NCDC scientists and graphics professionals led the editorial construction and 

composition of the 263-page report. NCDC and NOAA Communications led a public “rollout” 

of the document, with participation/quotes from NOAA Deputy Administrator Dr. Kathy 

Sullivan. 

Response to Extreme Climate Conditions. The year 2011 was marked by many instances of 

extreme weather and climate, from violent weather and flooding during April, to ongoing 

drought and heat in the plains. NCDC’s data, monitoring, and regional climate services efforts 

helped the Nation understand the scope and intensity of the events as they unfolded. According 

to NCDC analysis, 2011 saw at least 14 weather and climate disasters causing more than one 

billion dollars in damages; this was easily the most occurrences of the analysis period, since 

1980. Regional efforts included biweekly constituent and media calls in the southern Plains, to 

provide ongoing information about the unfolding heat-and-drought disaster in the region. 

NCDC’s regional climate services apparatus led this effort, and coordinated input and expertise 

from the National Weather Service, and NCDC-affiliated partners in state and regional climate 

centers in the region. The U.S. Drought Portal, hosted at NCDC, was able to deploy a regional 

pilot program in response to the episode. NCDC’s monitoring program was able to quickly 

assess, in partnership with the NWS and regional partners, that: the violent weather in the 

southeast set new records for tornado activity in a season; the flooding along the Ohio, 

Mississippi and Missouri was historic for many locations; and that the summer 2011 heat in 

Oklahoma and Texas was the most intense any state in the Nation has seen since records began 

in 1895. 

1981-2010 Climate Normals. NCDC released the 1981-2010 Climate Normals in 2011. In brief, 

Normals are three-decade averages of numerous climatological variables, most notably 

temperature and precipitation. Normals serve as a point of reference for “typical” climate 

conditions at a given location and are utilized in countless applications across a variety of 

sectors. The once-a-decade release in 2011 updated the Normals for more than 7,500 locations 

across the United States and added Normals data for over a thousand new stations. To prepare 

this release, NCDC produced hourly, daily, monthly, seasonal, and annual Normals for numerous 

climatological variables, including temperature, precipitation, and snowfall. Normals were also 

computed for derived quantities such as heating and cooling degree-days and the number of days 

per month above or below certain thresholds. NCDC made many improvements and additions to 

the scientific methodology used to calculate the 1981-2010 Normals, including improved 

scientific quality control and statistical techniques. Consistent with established principles, NCDC 

provided full-scale user engagement before and after releasing the Normals and incorporated 

new products based on stakeholder feedback. 

NOAA’s Climate Normals are used by numerous stakeholders. For instance, builders, insurers, 

and engineers use the Normals for planning and risk management. Energy companies use 

Normals to predict fuel demand. Farmers rely on them to help make decisions on both crop 

selection and planting times. Agribusinesses use Normals to monitor “departures from normal 

conditions” throughout the growing season and to assess past and current crop yields. Normals 

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are also commonly seen on TV weather segments for comparisons with the day's weather 

conditions. 

U.S. Climate Reference Network. The USCRN is a network of 114 stations developed, 

deployed, managed, and maintained by the NCDC in the continental United States for the 

express purpose of detecting the national signal of climate change. The USCRN program began 

fielding stations in 2012, and the vision of the program is to maintain a sustainable high-quality 

climate observation network that 50 years from now can, with the highest degree of confidence, 

answer the question: “How has the climate of the nation changed over the past 50 years?” These 

stations were designed with climate science in mind. Three independent measurements of 

temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and temperature, and relative humidity are made at each 

station, ensuring continuity of record and maintenance of well-calibrated and highly accurate 

observations. The stations are placed in pristine environments expected to be free of 

development for many decades. Stations are monitored and maintained to high standards and are 

calibrated on an annual basis. In addition to measurements of surface temperature and 

precipitation, these stations also make ancillary measurements of solar radiation, surface skin 

temperature, and surface winds at 1.5 meters above the ground in order to aid in the quality 

assurance of the primary temperature and precipitation measurements made by USCRN. 

Since 2009 the USCRN has been augmented by the implementation of triplicate measurements 

of soil moisture and soil temperature at five depths, as well the installation of atmospheric 

relative humidity sensors. Experimental stations have been located in Alaska since 2002 and in 

Hawaii since 2005, providing network experience in polar and tropical regions. Furthermore, as 

part of the most recent International Polar Year and in partnership with Roshydromet (the 

Russian Federation’s Federal Service For Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring), a 

USCRN station was installed in Tiksi, located in the Russian Arctic, to help address the need for 

reference surface climate observations in high latitude regions. Deployment of a complete 29-

station USCRN network into Alaska began in 2009. While the network is managed by 

NOAA/NCDC, the ongoing operation and continuous improvements in the system would not be 

possible without the work done in partnership with NOAA's Atmospheric Turbulence and 

Diffusion Division. Data from all stations, in addition to all system documentation, is available 

from the USCRN website at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn/. 

Conversion of COOP Network Observations from Paper Records to Digital Entry. The 

Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) consists of more than 7,500 stations where volunteer 

observers typically record daily weather observations on paper forms. These data are typically 

received at NCDC up to 45 days after the observations are taken, following mail submission and 

offsite digital keying of the data. In 2010, NOAA and the Regional Climate Center Program 

partnered to develop a Web-based data entry and quality control system for COOP observations 

called WxCoder III. This interface system reduces observation network and data management 

expenses, removes the need for paper forms, and provides higher quality climate data in near real 

time. NOAA can now inject these valuable data into climate monitoring and analysis activities 

within 24 hours of observation. By the end of 2010, NOAA had converted nearly 50% of the 

COOP network to WxCoder III. Receiving this dense network of surface data in near real time 

provides higher quality data for climate monitoring, forecast warnings and verification, model 

initialization, and other public service programs. At NCDC, the data provide a reliable resource 

for climate monitoring and assessment of extremes up to 50 days earlier than previously used. 

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This approach is being expanded rapidly with the goal of eliminating paper submissions entirely 

in the near future. 

Initiation of Operational Climate Data Records. In 2010, NCDC transitioned its first three 

satellite-derived Climate Data Records (CDRs) from research to operationally produced and 

sustained climate records. The CDRs provide objective climate information derived from 

weather satellite data that NOAA has collected over the past 30-plus years. Satellite-based 

climate measurements represent the longest measurement on record with global reach and reflect 

a national investment of billions of dollars. For the first time, NOAA is applying improved 

satellite climate analysis methods operationally to this historical satellite data. This process 

shows the underlying climate trend and variability information, thereby providing increased 

value from this national investment. In parallel, NCDC will extend these records by applying the 

same methods to present-day and future satellite measurements. The results will provide 

trustworthy and consistent information on how, where, and to what extent the land, oceans, 

atmosphere, and ice sheets are changing. The three CDRs delivered in FY 2010 include 

calibrated global records of Earth-reflected solar radiation, Earth-emitted thermal energy from 

NOAA’s Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) program, and Earth-emitted thermal 

energy from the international constellation of geosynchronous satellites. NCDC’s commitment to 

advancing CDR development is further leveraged by providing financial assistance to over 

twenty scientists across industry, government, and academia to continue to provide new CDRs to 

NOAA, including seven new ones in FY 2010. 

Development of Next-Generation Geostationary Satellite Archive and Access Requirements.

The NOAA data centers, working with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R 

(GOES-R) program, completed archive and access requirements that make GOES-R the first 

new major observing system acquisition to comply with the new NOAA Administrative Order 

(NAO) on management of environmental and geospatial data and information. Long-term digital 

information preservation is challenging, as data can only be useful when interpreted by 

corresponding representation information. Preserving description information, as gathered in the 

archive and access requirements, is essential to ensure that future generations benefit from 

NOAA’s multibillion dollar investment in Earth observations. The NAO captures NOAA’s 

policy for end-to-end stewardship needs for major observing systems, while also adhering to 

Federal geospatial data and required records management regulations. Applying all these 

regulations and concepts to a fully digital archive required the application of the open archive 

information system reference model mapped to GEOS-R. In addition, the new NOAA procedure 

for scientific records appraisal and archive approval was also implemented.

Climate Database Modernization Program (Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, and North 

Carolina). The Climate Database Modernization Program (CDMP) is a partnership between 

NCDC and private industry to image and digitize key paper and microfilm records and to make 

them available via the Internet. The CDMP enables the digitizing of important environmental 

data ranging from below the oceans to the top of the ionosphere. Projects range from historic 

sunspot images, ocean core research, and extending time series data of ocean tides and sea level. 

Over the past decade, CDMP has provided increased access to volumes of digitized historical 

records. This has greatly improved the ability of NOAA and others to monitor, assess, forecast, 

and predict environmental, solar, and geophysical events and to improve climate change 

projections. CDMP traditionally supported dozens of data rescue projects within NOAA. The 

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imaging and keying is done in partnership with the private sector; the amount of data rescued and 

keyed each year is directly related to the yearly budget process. 

There are now more than 58 million images and over 15 terabytes of data available online 

because of CDMP efforts. CDMP supports the NOAA mission to collect, integrate, assimilate, 

and effectively manage Earth observations on a global scale, ranging from atmospheric, weather, 

and climate observations to oceanic, coastal, and marine life observations. Many of these 

records, part of the U.S. National Archives, were originally recorded on paper, film, and other 

fragile media and stored at various NOAA centers. Prior to CDMP, these valuable data sources 

were not readily available to users, and the paper and film media were deteriorating, threatening 

their loss. Hourly weather records keyed through CDMP continue to be integrated into NCDC’s 

long term historical climate records digital database holdings, extending the period of record for 

many stations into the latter 1800s. Daily paper data records, collected mainly by the 

Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Army Signal Service from stations across the country, are being 

digitized through the CDMP “Forts” project and will extend climate records back to the early 

1800s. 

Another major data integration task, the Surface Airways Observations project, has captured 410 

million observations from many Weather Bureau city offices and airports dating back to 1893. In 

addition, over 273,000 Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean marine observations were keyed from 

cursive handwritten script in British East India Company logbooks dating from 1789 to1834. 

These data are the most significant early collection of ocean instrumental observations in the 

world and contain abundant observations of pressure and temperatures. These data will add 

significantly to the early historical marine record and enhance global climate analysis and the 

marine International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS.) Through many 

partnerships, the logbooks were imaged, then keyed into digital form to permanently preserve 

their contents and make the logs easily accessible for future generations. This collection will 

support regional and global climate research and reanalysis efforts dating to the late 18th century 

and will provide valuable clues to the earth’s climate during that period. CDMP is also 

coordinating several international projects, such as imaging and digitizing surface data from 

Central and South America and imaging and keying upper-air data from several countries in 

Africa. 

Record Setting Year for Online Data Access. NCDC provides a wealth of scientific data online 

in a variety of formats for quick and convenient access. These data and products support decision 

making for a wide variety of users across public, private, and academic interests. During FY 

2010, NCDC delivered 1,097 terabytes of data online via Web systems and services, compared 

to 618 terabytes in FY 2009, representing a 77% increase. This increase continues the sharp 

trend of growth seen over the past decade in data access via NCDC’s Web resources; it also 

reflects enhancements made to allow customers to download much larger volumes of model, 

radar, and satellite data. Over 2 petabytes, equal to 2 million gigabytes, of data are now 

accessible from NCDC’s Web site. This data growth maintains the rapid increase in the in situ, 

NEXRAD, satellite, and model data available online via NCDC’s services. To keep up with 

increasing data demand, NCDC continues to implement hardware upgrades able to manage the 

rapidly increasing system load and vast online data resources. 

The NCDC provides data, information, products and climate services to all sectors of the 

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economy, delivering weather and climate data and information to nearly two million customers 

each year for planning, operations, and minimizing risks associated with weather and climate 

extremes. NCDC provides access and data retrieval via the internet and responds to thousands of 

requests received via e-mail, phone, fax, and the mail. NCDC routinely produces operational 

products for climate monitoring, such as the weekly and monthly State of the Climate reports, 

the U.S. and the North American Drought Monitoring Reports and the Climatology for the U.S. 

reports. These and other climate assessments support business and government policy makers 

and implementers. NCDC also works very closely with various regional, state, and local 

stakeholders. 

Approximately 3 petabytes (PB) of data are now directly accessible from NCDC’s website, 

www.ncdc.noaa.gov. 1.285 petabytes (PB) {1,285 terabytes (TB)] of data were delivered on-line 

during FY 2011 (a 27-fold increase over FY 2005), with nearly 900 million hits and downloads 

from NCDC’s website during that time. Several factors account for this increase, including: 

Continued infrastructure improvements at NCDC to accommodate user demand, the Climate 

Services Portal’s continued development (www.climate.gov), and access to large volumes of 

Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data via the NOAA National Climate Model Portal 

(NCMP). NOAA climate data users and per cent data requests-retrievals are placed into four 

general categories: Business 44%, Public 33%, U.S. Government 12% and Academia 10%. 

The introduction of the climate.gov website is a major contributor to increased customer 

interactions with NOAA. 

Online Access for the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). In pursuit of understanding 

environmental change and impact, scientists and decision makers are increasingly seeking 

information that will help their communities plan and respond to climate variability and change. 

Uninterrupted climate observations are not available for all times or at every place on Earth, so 

scientists use climate models to “reanalyze” the existing data to fill in the gaps. The resulting 

datasets, called reanalysis data, allow for improved detection, analysis, and verification of 

climate variability indicators and improve scientists’ abilities to determine climate variation 

attribution. In 2010, NCDC became the primary provider to the public of the next-generation 30-

year CFSR dataset. This NCEP-developed dataset is the first major reanalysis generated in more 

than a decade and has met users’ request for easy access to the data. Once available via NCDC, 

CFSR data quickly became one of the most requested online datasets in NCDC’s history. 

To transfer the data, NCDC worked with NCEP to establish secure means of transferring more 

than 200 terabytes, equal to 200,000 gigabytes, of data. The data were quality-controlled and 

then ingested into NCDC’s information technology (IT) storage system, called the 

Comprehensive Large-Array data Stewardship System (CLASS), and rapidly made available to 

customers via the National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) 

user access system. NCDC then used the NOMADS infrastructure to provide a user-friendly 

suite of tools and Web-based services to allow easy public access to the data.

Global Observing Systems Information Center. The Global Observing Systems Information 

Center (GOSIC) at http://gosic.org provides access to data, metadata, and information from the 

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the 

Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS) and the Regional Observing Systems such as the 

GOOS Regional Alliances (GRA). The GOSIC Portal can be accessed at http://gosic.org. This 

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system provides efficient access to data and information and unique tools for searching and 

accessing data, such as matrices and data registry. It allows users to search for specific data, such 

as data located at NCDC and other global data centers. GOSIC serves the global observing 

system community and is a great tool for coordinating the various climate observing activities 

across NCDC and NOAA. 

GOSIC continues to play an important role in international and regional data access activities. As 

a formally registered service of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) data 

access project, this role expanded in FY 2010. GEOSS is a comprehensive effort to focus on the 

societal benefits of Earth observations. Furthermore, as the World Meteorological Organization 

(WMO) moves toward a modernized and comprehensive WMO Information Service (WIS), 

GOSIC plays an important role in the overall WIS architecture. 

From a regional perspective, GOSIC continues to play a significant role in aiding various Pacific 

Island National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in a number of critical data access and 

communication functions related to meteorological and climatology data in the region. It serves 

as a capacity-building utility by providing Internet-based Web services in concert with the Asia 

Pacific Data Research Center, which is a NOAA/NCDC-funded activity at the University of 

Hawaii. The overarching goal of the GOSIC is to provide easy access to climate datasets in 

support of the GCOS Essential Climate Variables (ECV); the GCOS ECV matrix was updated on 

the GOSIC in August 2010 to incorporate new variables that were published in the latest GCOS 

Implementation Plan (GCOS-138) in August 2010. 

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

NOAA Ship Ka`imimoana primarily supports the research programs of NOAA's Tropical 

Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) Project (real-time data from moored ocean buoys for improved 

detection, understanding and prediction of El Niño and La Niña). These research programs are 

designed to improve our understanding of the role of the tropical ocean in the world's climate. 

The ship deploys, recovers, and services deep sea moorings that measure ocean currents, ocean 

temperatures, and atmospheric variables throughout the equatorial Pacific Ocean. In addition to 

data from these moorings, the ship measures upper ocean currents, surface salinity, and carbon 

dioxide content. 

NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown, an oceanographic and atmospheric research platform, is the 

largest vessel in the NOAA fleet (274 feet). With its instruments and sensors, Ronald H. Brown

sails worldwide, supporting scientific studies to increase our understanding of the world's oceans 

and climate. Ronald H. Brown also carries a Doppler radar system to support at-sea 

meteorological observations. 

The Ronald H. Brown and Ka`imimoana annually support the TAO array by servicing 

approximately 60 Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition Systems (ATLAS) and current 

meter moorings in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. The Ronald H. Brown works in 

cooperation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to conduct mooring recovery and 

deployment operations of the Stratus Ocean Reference Station, located under the stratocumulus 

clouds off Chile and Peru. The ship conducts meteorological and air-sea flux observations to 

document and establish the accuracy of the moored metrological observations and to observe 

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oceanic and atmospheric variability. This region is of critical importance to climate 

predictability. 

The Ronald H. Brown also conducts the Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS) project, 

which investigates surface meteorological forcing and oceanographic response in a region of the 

tropical Atlantic Ocean with strong sea surface temperature anomalies on a decadal timescale. 

These issues are addressed through the analysis of surface mooring observations from a site near 

15o

N, 51oW. Ronald H. Brown also conducts the PIRATA Northeast Extension (PNE) project, a 

joint project of Brazil, France, and the United States. The overarching goal is to improve 

knowledge and understanding of ocean-atmosphere variability in the tropical Atlantic. 

United States Air Force 

Air Force Weather Agency, 14th Weather Squadron

The 14th Weather Squadron (14 WS) at Asheville, North Carolina, provides centralized 

climatological services, and produces specialized weather-impact information for DoD and allied 

nations. The 14 WS provides decision-enabling products, allowing DoD command authorities to 

anticipate environmental impacts on all aspects of military operations worldwide. The 14 WS 

enhances the combat capability of the United States by delivering timely, accurate, and reliable 

environmental situational awareness worldwide to the USAF, the Army, Unified Combatant 

Commands, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Defense. The squadron 

produces a suite of both standard and tailored products such as the Operational Climatic Data 

Summaries, Engineering Weather Data, Wind Roses, and Wind Stratified Conditional 

Climatologies, among others, as well as providing frequency of occurrence and duration for 

mission limiting factors. Yet, the 14 WS mission is more than just climatology; it is also 

forensic weather. It is about analyzing the past to help predict the future. The squadron 

continues to press ahead with innovation through the modernization of the Warfighter 

climatological toolkit by integrating GIS visualizations on its Web site and through development 

of GIS-based spatial and cloud climatologies. These emerging technologies give military 

planners the data needed to successfully plan and execute operations. The bottom line is to give 

Warfighters the environmental information when, where, and how it is needed to prosecute 

military operations. 

The 14 WS also collaborates with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and other national 

climatic centers of expertise worldwide. Collocation with NCDC in Asheville allows for data 

exchange as well as joint collaboration in areas such as data quality techniques, product 

development, and technology exploitation to facilitate both organizations’ missions. 

Long range outlook products and other services relate to time periods from a month to six 

months in the future, including seasonal forecasts and hazard assessments. The 14 WS produces 

six-month narrative-form outlooks derived by using statistical methods, with an ensemble of 

Global Climate Model forecasts, considering the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North 

Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode, etc. Air Force Weather is enhancing its six-month 

forecast capability by leveraging research conducted by Air Force and Navy officers at the Naval 

Postgraduate School and other national and international resources (including climatology work 

by NATO allies), as well as advances in understanding teleconnections (i.e., ENSO, North 

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Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode), with a goal of providing planners with a risk 

management tool to positively impact operations. 

United States Navy 

The earth’s climate is changing, and the most 

rapid changes are occurring in the Arctic. 

The Oceanographer of the Navy serves as 

Director of Task Force Climate Change 

(TFCC) and develops comprehensive 

approaches regarding the Arctic and global 

climate change to guide future Navy public, 

policy, and strategy discussions. TFCC 

recommends policy, strategy, and 

investments for the Navy regarding the 

Arctic and Climate Change that are 

consistent with existing National, Joint, and 

Naval guidance, including National Security 

Presidential Directive/ Homeland Security 

Presidential Directive (NSPD-66/HSPD-25), 

Joint Vision 2020, Sea Power 21, a 

Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century 

Seapower, Naval Operations Concept 21, The U.S. Navy’s Vision for Information Dominance, 

Naval Oceanography 2025, and the Quadrennial Defense Review. Recent TFCC 

accomplishments include execution of the Navy's Arctic Roadmap and Climate Change 

Roadmap. Action items completed or underway include an Arctic Environmental Assessment, 

Arctic Capabilities-Based Assessment, Installation Vulnerability Assessment, and Identification 

of Arctic and Global Climate Change Research Needs. The Arctic and Climate Change 

Roadmaps provide holistic, chronological, science-based guidance for future Navy action from 

now through 2040. These investments include research for and development of a next-generation 

environmental prediction capability applicable to the Arctic. 

United States Geological Survey 

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is both a provider of and user of climate-related 

services, but the balance between these two activities is quite different from that of NOAA. The 

USGS provides climate data and models, like NOAA, that can be used by resource managers and 

policy makers to anticipate and adapt to climate change. The USGS climate and land use change 

science program, however, also has a strong emphasis on understanding relationships between 

climate change and hydrological, geologic, and biological processes. 

USGS has expertise and numerous research projects and products that describe long-term 

changes in the Earth’s climate. The climatic datasets developed by the USGS are based primarily 

on Earth surface and subsurface records, in contrast to the atmospheric records developed by 

NOAA. USGS climatic datasets are derived from ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost; tree rings, 

landscape-scale phenology, and other biological data; and rock, sediments, and other 

paleodeposits, in addition to modern meteorologic, hydrologic, and remote sensing 

Rear Adm. David Titley, second from left, Director 

of the U.S. Navy Task Force Climate Change 

(TFCC), leads an onsite discussion of climate in 

the Arctic Ocean and its possible impacts on the 

Navy. (http://www.navy.mil/view galleries.asp)

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instrumentation. The USGS manages an international ice core facility in Denver, Colorado, and 

has numerous studies devoted to understanding the natural variability of climate and its attendant 

changes and to providing context for the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies. 

The Ice Core Laboratory is just one example of the services provided by the USGS to the 

scientific community engaged in understanding the Earth’s climate history. Another good 

example of the climate services provided by the USGS is the Department of the Interior’s 

network of regional Climate Science Centers. These centers are staffed by the USGS and have 

research and information delivery capabilities designed to respond to the needs of natural 

resource managers. 

Department of State (DOS) 

Stratospheric ozone depletion has been recognized as a critical health and environmental 

problem for more than two decades. Under Department of State (DOS) leadership, the United 

States worked to negotiate international agreements to phase out ozone-depleting substances, 

which are expected to lead to a recovery of the ozone layer by the middle of this century. In 2009 

these treaties became the first to achieve universal ratification; 197 countries, including the 

United States, have ratified both the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. The State 

Department makes annual contributions to the Vienna Convention’s efforts on scientific 

monitoring of the ozone layer. 

The IPCC, which was established by the WMO and the United Nations Environment Program 

(UNEP), held its first session in 1988. This organization serves as an intergovernmental forum to 

assess scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of 

climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. In doing so, the 

Panel draws on the expertise of thousands of scientists and technical experts. The IPCC is 

currently organized into three working groups, which examine (1) the state of the science, (2) 

impacts and adaptation, and (3) mitigation. In addition to preparing assessment reports, the IPCC 

also contributes to international negotiations through preparation and review of special reports 

and development of methodologies requested by the United Nations Framework Convention on 

Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

In addition to its primary role in the organizations and events listed above, DOS is active in 

several relevant Federal interagency processes, including the Committee on Environment and 

Natural Resources (CENR) of the National Science and Technology Council, the Subcommittee 

on Global Change Research (SGCR) and the broader U.S. Global Change Research Program 

(USGCRP) and its Interagency Working Group on Climate Change Science and Technology 

(IWGCCST). The CENR was established in 1993 to coordinate domestic scientific programs. 

USGCRP was created in 2001 to “integrate Federal research on global change and climate 

change” across 13 Federal agencies and is the umbrella to the IWGCCST, which was founded in 

2002 and is a sub-cabinet level group that reviews all programs that contribute to climate change 

science and technology (from 2001-2008, USGCRP was known as the Climate Change Science 

Program, or CCSP). In addition to the above, DOS responsibilities include, but are not limited to, 

international aspects of food policy, disaster warnings and assistance, WMO and UNEP 

activities, and international meteorological and Earth observing programs. 

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SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center 

Supporting Federal Climate Assessment Services. NOAA established a Technical Support Unit 

at NCDC to provide critical information and capabilities to support the National Climate 

Assessment (NCA), being run by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The 

NCA is conducted under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which 

requires a report to the President and Congress that evaluates, integrates, and interprets the 

findings of the USGCRP every four years. With the next Assessment due in 2013, the agencies 

participating in the USGCRP seek not only to deliver the assessment report, but also to establish 

an ongoing, sustainable assessment process, which will require a wide network of interagency 

and external support. A key component of this ongoing process will be an interactive Web 

presence for NCA including innovative digital publications providing broad access to the NCA 

and its underlying information. The NCA aims to incorporate advances in the understanding of 

climate science into larger social, ecological, and policy system understanding and with this, to 

provide integrated analyses of impacts and vulnerability. 

Assuring the Reliability of the U.S. Surface Temperature Record. In January 2010, a paper 

entitled “On the reliability of the U.S. Surface Temperature Record" was published in the peerreviewed Journal of Geophysical Research—Atmospheres. Conducted by NCDC scientists Dr. 

Matthew Menne, Claude Williams, and Dr. Michael Palecki, this important study addressed the 

impact of poor siting conditions at stations in the U.S. Historical Climatology Network 

(USHCN) Cooperative Observation (COOP) network. NCDC needed to assess if and how the 

site conditions, such as locations next to buildings or heat sources, impacted the long-term 

temperature record. Through their study, Menne, Williams, and Palecki found that continental 

U.S. temperature trends are not inflated due to poor exposure. Results indicated that there is a 

mean bias associated with poor exposure sites relative to good exposure sites; however, this bias 

is consistent with previously documented changes associated with the widespread conversion to 

electronic sensors in the USHCN COOP during the past 25 years. Homogeneity adjustments 

applied to USHCN Version 2 data were found to account for the impact of instrument and siting 

changes. The adjusted USHCN COOP temperatures were also found to be extremely well 

aligned with measurements from the U.S. Climate Reference Network, whose instruments and 

exposure characteristics meet the highest standards for climate monitoring. This work verifies 

the validity of analyses included in the 2009 report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the 

United States. It also shows that problems with station siting at USHCN COOP sites have been 

accurately addressed through application of the Menne and Williams Pairwise Homogeneity 

Adjustment algorithm and ensures the integrity of the U.S. surface temperature record. 

Tropospheric Temperature Trends. Scientists at NOAA, the NOAA-funded Cooperative 

Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), the United Kingdom Meteorological Office, and the 

University of Reading in the United Kingdom contributed to the paper, “Tropospheric 

Temperature Trends: History of an Ongoing Controversy,” a review of four decades of data and 

scientific papers. The paper was published in November 2010 by Wiley Interdisciplinary 

Reviews: Climate Change, a peer-reviewed journal. According to this extensive review of the 

scientific literature, the science conclusively states that the troposphere, the lower part of the 

atmosphere closest to the Earth, is warming and that this warming is broadly consistent with both 

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theoretical expectations and climate models. In the 1990s, some observations did not show the 

troposphere, particularly in the tropics, to be warming even though surface temperatures were 

rapidly warming. This lack of tropospheric warming was used by some to question both the 

reality of the surface warming trend and the reliability of climate models as tools. In extensively 

reviewing the relevant scientific analyses—195 cited papers, model results, and atmospheric 

datasets—the paper states that the body of science shows there is no longer evidence for a 

fundamental discrepancy and that the troposphere is indeed warming. 

Development of GHCN-M Version 3 Monthly Mean Temperature Dataset. Since the early 

1990s the Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly (GHCN-M) dataset has been an 

internationally recognized source of data for the study of observed variability and change in land 

surface temperature. It provides monthly mean temperature data for 7,280 stations from 226 

countries and territories, ongoing monthly updates of more than 2,000 stations to support 

monitoring of current and evolving climate conditions, and homogeneity adjustments to remove 

nonclimatic influences that can bias the observed temperature record. The release of Version 3 

Monthly Mean Temperature Data marks the first major revision to this dataset in over ten years. 

It introduces a number of improvements and changes that include consolidating “duplicate” 

series, updating records from recent decades, and the use of new approaches to homogenization 

and quality assurance. NCDC developed new quality control methodologies, applied a new 

homogeneity adjustment algorithm to extend and improve bias corrections to in situ stations on 

every continent, developed a new update system to ensure all updates to source datasets can be 

incorporated immediately, established a version control and data provenance system to improve 

the traceability of data, and made other changes in response to user requests to broaden the use of 

this dataset to a wider community. This new version provides a global dataset of higher quality 

for diverse user communities. The data are easier to access, easier to understand, and more 

complete. 

Global Tropical Cyclone Database Development. In FY 2009, NOAA unveiled the International 

Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) under the auspices of the World Data 

Center for Meteorology at NCDC. IBTrACS overcame data availability issues and freely 

disseminated this new and popular global data set. This was achieved by working directly with 

all the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) and other international centers 

and individuals to create a global best track dataset, merging storm information from multiple 

centers into one product, and archiving the data for public use. The IBTrACS project portal 

(http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ibtracs/): 

 Contains the most complete global set of historical tropical cyclones available; 

 Combines information from numerous tropical cyclone datasets; 

 Simplifies inter-agency comparisons by providing storm data from multiple sources in 

one place; 

 Provides data in popular formats to facilitate analysis; and 

 Checks the quality of storm inventories, positions, pressures, and wind speeds, passing 

the information on to the user. 

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To ensure that the procedures and algorithms that IBTrACS employs meet the requirements of 

the international IBTrACS community and to coordinate with the various RSMCs and other 

international data centers involved in tropical cyclone best tracks, the IBTrACS team has held 

two very successful international workshops, one in 2009 in Asheville, North Carolina, the 

second in 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Improving Hurricane Forecasts in the Atlantic. Atlantic hurricane forecasts from NOAA’s 

National Hurricane Center (NHC) include information on track and storm intensity. Over the 

past twenty years, errors in track have been cut in half, but intensity forecasting is still a key 

research area. Dr. Jim Kossin of NCDC is dedicated to improving intensity forecasts with the 

development of two experimental models: one for predicting hurricane eyewall replacement 

cycles (ERC) and one aimed at understanding rapid intensity changes. In 2010, the ERC model 

became fully operational during hurricane season and has the potential to improve not only 

forecasts but also storm surge predictions. Both projects are part of the Joint Hurricane Testbed 

research-to-operations project. 

Paleo Climate Reconsturctions (Temparature and Precipation). NCDC extends the climate 

record backwards in time prior to the instrumental period by building an archive of Paleoclimate 

reconstructions (now containing over 11,000 sites) and by producing data and information 

products via the Applied Research Center for Paleoclimatology. The long baseline offered by 

Paleoclimate data is valuable in understanding the amplitude of natural climate variability and in 

assessing long-term trends. Paleoclimate reconstructions also reveal other aspects of the Earth 

System including carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (from ice core bubbles), ocean pH, and sea 

level rise. In 2011 the archive acquired new sea level time series, ocean pH data, and additional 

reconstructions of temperature spanning the past millennium. Scientists from the Lamont 

Doherty Earth Observatory contributed the Monsoon Drought Atlas (MADA), a gridded 

reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index across Asia. The MADA stands alongside 

the North American Drought Atlas as the two largest and most temporally extensive gridded 

reconstructions of hydrologic variability yet produced. The tree ring data provides a much longer 

history of drought variations than the historical record does, bringing into sharper focus the 

decadal variability and revealing such extreme anomalies as “megadroughts,” or droughts of 

longer duration that were more severe than anything observed in the short instrumental record. 

Long climate records that resolve the natural variability are essential to improved prediction of 

the Asian summer monsoon. The “Speleothem oxygen isotope” data set complements the 

gridded tree ring products by extending the record of hydrologic variability back to the Ice Age 

21,000 years ago with unprecedented dating accuracy (+/- 100 years). NOAA also produced an 

independent reconstruction of temperature that fully overlaps the instrumental period (1880-

1995), significant because it provides independent evidence of the warming trend of the past 

century. A new reconstruction of North America mean annual temperature extends to 1200 CE 

(Common Era), with improved estimates of uncertainty. 

Continued Growth of Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites North Carolina (CICSNC). Since the inauguration of CICS-NC on July 1, 2009, the CICS-NC team has grown to 

comprise 20 researchers (14 PhD and 6 MA/MS) supporting the NCDC mission with a focus on 

enhancing the collective interdisciplinary understanding of the state and evolution of the full 

Earth system. Focusing on seven research areas, from Climate Data Records to 

National/Regional Assessments, these researchers have published nearly 20 peer-reviewed 

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papers since the institute’s inception. Over the past year, CICS-NC scientists led contributions to 

the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, edited a chapter of the authoritative 2009 State of the Climate 

annual report, and engaged in international management of the Global Climate Observing 

System Reference Observing Network and the recently instigated International Surface 

Temperature Initiative. CICS-NC scientists have presented at over 10 conferences, with nearly 

20 presentations on the topics of climate research and applications, satellite and observation 

monitoring, and climate modeling. CICS-NC is also spearheading outreach activities that 

enhance the value of science, innovation, research, and education. In 2010, CICS-NC established 

the “CICS Cluster” of 340 nodes used by researchers for collaborative development and software 

validation. CICS-NC has also initiated the planning for the “Summer Institute on Climate 

Adaptation” to be held in Asheville in June 2012. 

International Drought Workshops. Contributors to the North American Drought Monitor 

(NADM) have increasingly recognized that global-scale drought monitoring and mitigation and a 

drought response system would benefit all nations affected by drought, especially those in 

semiarid regions. In April 2010, NCDC scientists led three concurrent workshops aimed at 

identifying and addressing the unique needs of the international drought monitoring community. 

These three concurrent workshops in Asheville focused on better data sharing and information 

design. The result was improved bilateral drought monitoring arrangements between the United 

States and both Canada and Mexico, as well as a new vision for coordinating global drought 

monitoring efforts. The workshops also led to progress on creating drought early warning 

systems and regional drought monitoring centers in parts of many continents. All workshops 

noted the challenge of inadequate data and indices for detecting drought, which is a continuing 

area of international collaboration. 

USCRN Soil Sensor and Relative Humidity Sensor Installation. Begun in FY 2009 and 

completed at the end of FY 2011, NCDC, in partnership with NOAA’s Atmospheric Turbulence 

and Diffusion Division (ATDD) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, completed the installation of a 

triplicate set of soil moisture and temperature sensors at 5 standard soil depths from 5 to 100 cm 

deep, in addition to relative humidity sensors, at all 114 of the USCRN stations in the 

conterminous United States. 

Soil temperature and moisture (as well as relative humidity) are critical Essential Climate 

Variables (as defined by the Global Climate Observing System - GCOS1

) for monitoring longterm drought and climate change. Given that the primary mission of the USCRN is to be able to 

detect and confirm long-term climate change, the implementation of these new soil and relative 

humidity sensors will vastly improve the network’s capability to fulfill this mission. 

NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) recognized the need for and 

value of such a project and has provided the necessary support and resources to not only ensure 

project completion but also to support continued operations and maintenance and continuous 

improvement. This support also enables ongoing science work to continue in a sustainable 

manner required by long-term climate observing systems. NCDC worked with ATDD to lay out 

a 3-year plan from 2009 through 2011 for installing these new sensors in a manner that would 

enhance the USCRN while not interrupting operations at network sites and this work at the 114 

 

1

 See http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/gcos/Publications/gcos-138.pdf 

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stations in the CONUS was completed in August 2011. Some initial work on installing soil 

sensors in Alaska was begun in 2012 to gain experience with installing such sensors in a unique 

tundra environment. In addition, NCDC worked to ensure that data from the new sensors were 

made immediately available via both the USCRN website and the NIDIS data portal2

 (the 

Federal government’s overall “Data.Gov” portal site). Since the installation of these new sensors 

requires the development of appropriate science products, work was begun in parallel to ensure 

that the maximum benefit from this project is achieved. 

The soil and relative humidity monitoring that is facilitated by this project is of key importance 

to a number of sectors of the economy. The benefits from the data span many science disciplines 

and technical applications including hydrology, climate, the Earth’s carbon cycle, and 

applications of value to the meteorological, environmental, and ecology communities. Economic 

sectors including agriculture and water resource management will be better able to serve their 

customers, on whom millions of Americans depend. Having these data available on a timely 

basis will be a great addition to the USCRN climate datastream. Data from USCRN soil sensors 

(at least down to the 5 cm level) will be of critical importance to the calibration and validation 

work (e.g., establishing ground truth) required by NASA’s Soil Moisture Active-Passive 

(SMAP) mission, which is scheduled for launch in the 2014 timeframe. 3 

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

The mission of climate research activities within NOAA/OAR is to monitor and understand 

Earth's climate system in order to predict the potential long-term changes in global climate as 

well as shorter-term climate variations that are of societal and economic importance. More 

information on OAR’s climate research is available at: http://www.oar.noaa.gov/climate/. 

To achieve this mission, climate research across OAR is structured to support the long-term goal 

of Climate Adaptation and Mitigation described in NOAA’s Next-Generation Strategic Plan 

(NGSP). The NGSP identifies four Objectives under the Goal: (1) Improved scientific 

understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts; (2) Assessments of current and 

future states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and 

stewardship decisions; (3) Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, and 

timely climate services; and (4) A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a 

changing climate and makes informed decisions. 

To meet these Objectives, OAR’s research is executed and delivered through a network of 

laboratories and cooperative institutes, programs, and university-based partnership activities. 

Broadly, OAR’s laboratories and cooperative institutes contribute, both directly and indirectly, to 

all four Objectives. OAR’s Climate Program Office (CPO) is the strategy lead for the NGSP 

Climate Goal, and it provides resources, programmatic oversight, and coordination to ensure 

NOAA’s climate research activities proceed in an integrated and cost-effective manner. In these 

roles, CPO brings together and maintains relationships across NOAA laboratories, cooperative 

institutes, and university-based partners. OAR’s laboratories and cooperative institutes work in 

 

2

 See http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt/community/drought_gov/202/crn_soil_data?qid=01652419&rank=6 

3

 See http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/ 

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tandem with CPO to ensure NOAA meets its aim of an informed society anticipating and 

responding to climate and its impacts. 

Specific aims of research conducted under the Goal’s Objective of improved scientific 

understanding include: 

 Describe and understand the state of the climate through sustained atmospheric and 

oceanic observations and research related to global distributions, trends, sources and 

sinks of atmospheric constituents that are capable of forcing change in the climate of the 

Earth 

 Understand and predict climate variability and change from weeks to decades to 

centennial timescales 

 Conduct advanced mathematical modeling of the climate and Earth systems, including 

natural climate variability, anthropogenic climate change, weather and hurricane 

forecasts, El Niño prediction, and stratospheric ozone depletion to improve the prediction 

of climate phenomena 

 Sustain the observing systems essential for climate, oceanographic monitoring, and data 

management 

 Conduct physical process research to advance a seamless suite of information and 

forecast products 

 Understand how decision makers use climate information to improve the ability of 

society to plan for and respond to climate variability and change. 

NOAA/OAR Air Resources Laboratory 

To provide a sound basis for understanding climate variability and change, the Air Resources 

Laboratory (ARL), in conjunction with partners, contributes to two land-based climate reference 

networks: the U.S. Climate Reference Network and the Regional U.S. Climate Reference 

Network, through the design, establishment, operation, maintenance, and analysis of these 

observing systems. ARL also provides scientific leadership and research for the establishment of 

an upper air climate reference network, called the Global Climate Observing System Reference 

Upper-Air Network. 

ARL also analyzes daily to multi-decadal atmospheric variations measured by many types of 

climate observation systems, with a special emphasis on radiosonde (weather balloon) data. 

ARL’s radiosonde research has identified important data problems and produced new, improved 

datasets by removing artificial, non-physical signals from weather observations. ARL uses these 

and other datasets to identify and characterize climate variability and trends. Through 

collaboration with climate modeling groups, ARL’s datasets are used to evaluate global climate 

models. 

NOAA/OAR/Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) 

In an effort to better understand and forecast climate, Atlantic Oceanographic and 

Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) has been deploying a global array of profiling floats since 

2000. The broad-scale global array of temperature and salinity profiling floats, known as Argo, 

has already grown to become a major component of the ocean observing system, with a 

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deployment of 3000 floats. Argo floats are free-drifting profiling floats that spend most of their 

life “parked” at 1,000 or 2,000 meters depth in the ocean, regularly surfacing to make 

temperature and salinity profile measurements and transmitting those observations in real time. 

AOML is the U.S. Argo Data Assembly Center and the South Atlantic Argo Regional Center, in 

charge of all U.S. Argo deployments in the Atlantic. The Argo array is part of the GCOS/ GOOS 

and is a major contributor to the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) Climate 

Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) and the Global Ocean Data Assimilation 

Experiment (GODAE). Combined with satellites, Argo data provides a quantitative description 

of the changing state of the upper ocean and the patterns of ocean climate variability from 

months to decades, including heat and freshwater storage and transport. 

The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean/TRIangle Trans-Ocean buoy Network (TAO/TRITON) array 

consists of approximately 70 Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System (ATLAS) and 

TRITON moorings in the tropical Pacific Ocean, telemetering oceanographic and meteorological 

data to shore in real time via the ARGOS satellite system. Designed to improve detection, 

understanding, and prediction of El Niño, TAO/TRITON is a major component of the El 

Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Observing System, GCOS, and GOOS. 

NOAA/OAR/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) 

The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) climate 

research provides an improved predictive capability through a better understanding of the 

connections between emissions, atmospheric composition, and Earth’s climate system. Research 

is focused on addressing two of the greatest uncertainties in current climate models: water vapor 

and aerosols (airborne fine particles), in addition to ongoing work on non-CO2 greenhouse gases. 

Work is underway to improve the measurement of water vapor and understanding its 

atmospheric distribution, with a focus on the upper atmosphere, where the water vapor 

abundance is a key factor in determining the amount of radiation lost to space and the heating of 

the lower atmosphere and Earth surface. A better quantification of water vapor and its 

distribution in this part of the atmosphere is needed to properly account for past changes in the 

Earth’s climate and reliably predict/project future changes. The IPCC has identified the role of 

atmospheric aerosols in climate change as the single greatest uncertainty in our ability to predict 

changes to the climate system. Research is addressing key uncertainties related to both absorbing 

(e.g., black carbon) aerosols that warm the atmosphere, and scattering (e.g., sulfate) aerosols that 

cool the atmosphere, in particular their emission/formation and evolution in the atmosphere, with 

a particular emphasis on quantifying the influence of aerosols on cloud formation, extent, and 

optical properties (Earth’s radiation balance) as well as on precipitation. CSD also places a high 

priority on communicating the results of its research in decision-support information products to 

underpin national and international decision making. CSD's contributions include leadership and 

extensive participation in state-of-understanding assessments on climate, such as the IPCC 

assessments and special reports, synthesis and assessment reports of the USGCRP, and the 

Montreal Protocol assessment on the ozone layer. 

The ESRL Global Monitoring Division (GMD) conducts sustained observations and research 

related to global distributions, trends, sources and sinks of atmospheric constituents that are 

capable of forcing change in Earth’s climate. This research will advance climate projections and 

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provide scientific policy-relevant, decision-support information to enhance society's ability to 

plan and respond. 

To slow the rate of anthropogenic-induced climate change in the 21st century and to minimize its 

eventual magnitude, societies will need to manage the climate forcing factors that are directly 

influenced by human activities, in particular greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions. For effective 

management of these species, a solid scientific understanding of their natural cycles and the 

processes that influence those cycles is necessary. Atmospheric measurements are the touchstone 

of theories or models describing these cycles. Providing a sound basis for important societal 

decisions requires a global effort, one that involves studying numerous gases, particles, and 

atmospheric radiation on appropriately designed spatial and temporal scales. 

The combined effects of climate forcing lead ultimately to alteration of the earth's radiation 

budget. Broadband irradiance, measured continuously at numerous locations around the globe, 

provides benchmarks of climatic processes. Forced changes in irradiance are not only affected by 

changing concentrations of constituents or other external sources but also by changes in water 

vapor and clouds. The longest continuous record of solar radiation at the surface (55 years and 

counting) comes from Mauna Loa Observatory measurements. The 31-year record of increasing 

stratospheric water vapor concentrations collected by balloon-borne instruments above Boulder, 

Colorado, is the sole such long-term record in existence. 

The Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, record of continuously increasing atmospheric carbon 

dioxide concentrations was begun in 1956 and continues today, the longest such record on Earth. 

NOAA/GMD measures nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone (O3), methane 

(CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), methyl halides, and sulfur 

hexafluoride (SF6) at up to 65 sites around the globe. Measurements of carbon isotopic ratios of 

CO2 and CH4 allow for understanding relative fossil fuel and natural sources for these gases. 

In addition to monitoring aerosol properties at remote Atmospheric Baseline Observatories, in 

response to the finding that anthropogenic aerosols create a significant perturbation in the earth's 

radiative balance on regional scales, ESRL/GMD expanded its aerosol research program (1992) 

to include continuous aerosol monitoring stations in regions where significant aerosol forcing 

was expected. The goals of this regional-scale monitoring program are to characterize the means, 

variabilities, and trends of climate-forcing properties of different types of aerosols and to 

understand the factors that control these properties. An important aspect of this sampling strategy 

is linking chemical measurements to physical measurements. ESRL/GMD's aerosol 

measurements also provide ground-truth data for satellite measurements and inputs for global 

models. 

NOAA/OAR/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory 

Over the last half century in general, and the last few years in particular, NOAA’s Geophysical 

Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) has demonstrated world leadership in pushing the 

boundaries of climate prediction. Through direct participation in producing the 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 Assessment and the Administration’s 

Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Reports, GFDL’s premier climate 

science capacity and recent investment in computer model infrastructure allow NOAA to deliver 

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essential climate prediction information at the regional and local level and provide an invaluable 

and unique opportunity for the Nation to make critical progress in global change science. GFDL 

has delivered model output to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth 

Assessment Report (AR5). Four model streams have been specifically designed for the climate 

integrations needed to address the major climate science challenges. All four streams are based 

on CM2.1, a GFDL coupled climate model with an atmospheric model resolution of 200km and 

an ocean model resolution of 100km. CM2.1 was considered among the highest quality models 

used in the previous IPCC Assessment Report, AR4, and will be used again in AR5. Model 

output will be submitted to the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) for use in 

AR5. The four modeling streams are: 

1. Decadal prediction experiments to better understand physical processes that contribute to 

decadal variations and predictability in the climate system, particularly in terms of the 

role of the ocean as a driver of decadal scale variations. 

2. Earth System Models (ESMs), emphasizing biogeochemical carbon-climate feedbacks 

through the use of a closed-carbon cycle. This is a new modeling stream that was not 

available in AR4. The atmospheric model is same as used in the CM2.1 model in AR4. 

The use of two ocean models in these experiments exposes the sensitivity of our models 

of the Earth System to different formulations of ocean processes. Oceanic and terrestrial 

biogeochemical cycles are modeled similarly in both ESMs. 

3. Coupled climate models (CM3) with more realistic, self-consistent but complex 

atmospheric physics and chemistry than in CM2.1. This model includes interactive 

tropospheric- and stratospheric gas-phase chemistry, and aerosol microphysics including 

aerosol-cloud interactions, which were not present in CM2.1. Ocean model remains as in 

CM2.1 (viz., MOM4). 

4. High-resolution atmospheric models at 50km and 25km resolution forced by future ocean 

states to improve our understanding of regional climate change in the 21st century, 

particularly how the frequency and magnitude of extreme events can change in a 

warming world. These models are derived from the atmospheric component of CM2.1. 

GFDL scientists continue to play an active role in AR5, and in some instances lead, in: model 

intercomparison and model simulation analysis activities; submission of model data, quality 

control and archiving through the GFDL data portal, part of the AR5 model data archive (for 

AR5, models are documented so that their output will be assigned a digital object identifier 

[DOI], much like publications); analyses of the data outputs and inferences about the climate 

system via papers (3 papers have been submitted on CM3 alone), technical group memberships, 

and international research team memberships; via being selected as contributors and/or authors 

on the IPCC report’s chapters (2 GFDL scientists are Review Editors and 3 are Lead Authors for 

the Working Group I Report for AR5). 

GFDL has also made significant contributions, through high-resolution model experiments, to 

the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), and GFDL 

model experiments will also be used in creating the USGCRP’s National Climate Assessment, 

due out in 2013. 

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NOAA/OAR/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 

The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) contributes to the advancement our 

understanding of the impacts of climate variability and change through a long-term observations 

program that supports robust climate research. PMEL, with support from the NOAA Climate 

Program Office and several international partners including Japan, France, Brazil, India, 

Indonesia, South Africa, and China, led the effort to develop the Global Tropical Moored Buoy 

Array (GTMBA) and now maintains both the PIRATA and RAMA Arrays in the Tropical 

Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively. The TAO/TRITON Array, the original component of 

the GTMBA, has been transitioned from PMEL to NWS/National Data Buoy Center. Moored 

buoys in the GTMBA report daily values of surface meteorological parameters and subsurface 

temperatures and salinity values via Argos satellite for use by the NWS Climate Prediction 

Center and climate researchers world-wide. PMEL contributes to the maintenance of the global 

Argo Float Array, through an international partnership and in conjunction with Woods Hole 

Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the University of Washington, and 

AOML. PMEL scientists deploy floats, support the addition of new measurement capabilities on 

Argo floats, and conduct research on improving quality control of the Argo data. PMEL 

scientists support the OceanSITES program of global moored ocean reference stations for 

climate, maintaining several moored platforms in the Pacific. In conjunction with the 

International CLIVAR program, PMEL conducts ocean research on a global scale to monitor 

decadal-scale changes in a suite of physical, chemical, and biological parameters over the full 

water column, such as carbon dioxide uptake, ocean temperature, and circulation. PMEL climate 

researchers are active in the Arctic region, using atmospheric models to predict long-term sea-ice 

extent and providing information on potential impacts to ecosystem managers and local 

communities on Arctic change. PMEL scientists, working with the National Marine Fisheries 

Service, also conduct research on the impacts of ocean climate change on marine resources, 

conducting research on ocean acidification and on the impact of ocean and climate change on 

North Pacific fishery and marine mammal populations. 

Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) unique mission is to advance 

knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by 

supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System 

and other partner organizations. NIFA doesn’t perform actual research, education, and extension, 

but rather helps fund it at the state and local level and provides program leadership in these areas. 

 NIFA funding supports research projects that collect, analyze, and utilize short and long-term 

weather and climate data as a base of information for the projection and prediction of climatic 

trends related to environmental impacts on agro-ecosystems, forests, and rangelands and the 

development of adaptation and mitigation strategies for natural resources and production 

management. Research, education, and extension projects address the contribution of human 

activities, soil management, and crop and animal production to atmospheric greenhouse gases. 

Broader areas of study involve climate variability, carbon, nitrogen and water cycling, and their 

role in global change. The impact of changes in UV radiation and ozone level studies also fit 

into this broad global category. 

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Historical climate changes are derived from data gathering and modeling studies, enabling 

prediction of future crop production and irrigation needs. NIFA funding supports studies on the 

impact of climate and weather on food, feed, and fiber production and on natural resource 

protection and utilization. These studies relate to forest and agricultural plant growth, rangeland 

productivity, cropping system selection, livestock production practices and natural resource 

management. 

Man’s impact on climate systems is represented in studies of both micro-and macro-climatic 

change. These involve studies dealing with the climatic impact on air quality, water quality and 

quantity, and agriculture waste management related to agricultural practices and forest and urban 

development. Studies on climatic impact on nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration and 

emission are supported with NIFA funds. Research is also being supported to quantify the 

impact of climate change on the incidence and severity of drought, extreme heat and cold, 

emerging plant and animal diseases and pests, new invasive species, shifting biodiversity and 

ecosystem services, and adaptation to these events. 

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) has funded projects on a wide variety of 

weather and climate related research in collaboration with other U.S. federal agencies. AFRI’s 

Climate Change Challenge Area focuses on research related to regional climate studies in 

agriculture and forestry, plant breeding, animal health impacts, and mitigation and adaptation in 

agriculture and forestry. Other AFRI areas of research related to weather and climate change 

include organic agriculture, carbon cycling, agro-ecosystem modeling, and economic 

consequences of adaptation and mitigation strategies. Emerging areas of research include the 

impact of climate on biofuel production, environmental markets, and food safety. 

United States Geological Survey 

Water Resources Monitoring. The effects of warming temperatures on water resources are 

among the most certain and costly consequences of climate change in some regions of the United 

States, and water resources information should be an important component of (or closely linked 

with) a new national climate services program. The USGS is the nation’s water resource 

monitoring agency, with one or more offices in every State and a National stream and 

groundwater monitoring network that supports water management efforts at State and local 

levels, as well as vast western water resources managed by two other Department of the Interior 

bureaus: the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The USGS 

has a long-established hydroclimatology research program and is the primary Federal science 

agency for water resource information. The USGS monitors the quantity and quality of water in 

the Nation's rivers and aquifers and develops tools to improve the application of hydrologic 

information, including the effects of a changing climate. This broad, diverse mission cannot be 

accomplished effectively without the contributions of the Cooperative Water Program with the 

50 states. For more than 100 years, the Cooperative Program has been a highly successful costsharing partnership between the USGS and water-resource agencies at the State, local, and Tribal 

Nation levels. 

The USGS carries out research in climate change, regional hydrology, the carbon cycle, coastal 

erosion, and glaciology. The Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program is 

studying processes controlling water, energy, and biogeochemical fluxes at five small research 

watersheds in the United States. This program includes research on the effects of atmospheric 

and climatic variables on watershed processes. There are also a number of ongoing studies to 

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characterize trends in hydrologic data and to relate these trends to climatic variables. Researchers 

are also using global and regional climate models to enhance understanding of the potential 

effects of climate change and climate variability on U.S. land and water resources. 

Glacier Monitoring. As part of its glaciology program, the USGS maintains an observation 

program on three benchmark glaciers representative of different climatic zones of the western 

United States, one in Washington, one on the south coast of Alaska, and one in the interior of 

Alaska. At each glacier, the program measures the winter snow accumulation, summer snow and 

ice ablation, air temperature, and runoff in the glacier basin. Beginning in 1959, this is the 

longest such record in North America. Analysis of this record is providing a greater 

understanding of climate variability and its effects on water resources of the western United 

States. The record clearly shows the effects of changing winter precipitation patterns associated 

with atmospheric conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean, including El Niño-La Niña events 

and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. 

To augment its glacier monitoring efforts, the USGS is using National Systems data to measure 

fluctuations of glaciers in Alaska, Washington, and Montana. Mountain glaciers are ideal 

subjects for these systems because they are remote, have an appropriate space scale, and require 

infrequent but repetitive observations. The observations have established a baseline of regional 

glacial conditions. The resulting archive of ongoing observations is being used to determine 

recent trends in glacier size and terminus location. In addition, techniques have been developed 

to generate derived products that provide critical glacial parameters, including DEMs, 

equilibrium line altitudes, and ablation rates. These products are being incorporated into a glacial 

runoff model of the South Cascade Glacier, Washington, where they are proving to be a valuable 

source of otherwise unavailable data. 

Snow and Ice Studies. The USGS, in cooperation with BLM, is using a variety of remote 

sensing data to monitor the rapid wastage of the piedmont lobe of Bering Glacier, Alaska. 

Landsat, Radarsat, ICESat, and Ikonos observations show that Bering Glacier is retreating 

rapidly and thinning in an accelerating retreat from an advanced position that resulted from a 

major glacial surge in 1993-95. The satellite data and ground-based observations have been 

combined to determine the surface flow velocities and calving rates of the glacier and to monitor 

the expansion of Vitus Lake and Berg Lake—two large lakes whose boundaries include the 

glacier terminus. The rapid change in glaciation is having a large impact on nearby terrestrial and 

aquatic ecosystems. 

Geological Investigations. The USGS has traditionally led the USGCRP projects devoted to 

understanding cycles in the Earth’s climate, abrupt climate change, ecological thresholds, and 

climate change in polar regions. These cycles are generally underrepresented in the available 

data from meteorological records. By combining paleoclimatic and instrumental data, USGS 

scientists have contributed substantially to understanding how past and current changes in the 

Earth’s climate affect water, land, and biological resources. 

Biological Indicators of Climatic Trends. The National Phenology Network, Breeding Bird 

Surveys, and Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative are examples of USGS biological 

science programs that provide national coverage and uniform protocols for reporting the 

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occurrence of biological events that can augment analyses of changes in the physical climate 

system. 

USGS Role in National Climate Services. The USGS has several additional programs and 

projects that would directly support and complement an interagency national climate services 

program. The USGS develops global and regional climate models and contributes to 

international programs of model development (e.g., the WCRP and phase 3 of the Coupled 

Model Intercomparison Project [CMIP3]). It targets model applications to investigate past, 

present, and future climate change (mean and variability) and how those changes influence and 

are influenced by surface systems. Applications include surface and subsurface hydrology, 

terrestrial and marine ecosystems, glaciology, and wildland fire research. USGS model 

simulations are often targeted to specific natural resource response and management questions 

rather than production runs for 

activities such as the IPCC 

assessments. Its modeling 

activities are flexible, with 

quickly implemented 

experimental designs that are 

often modified through an 

iterative process involving 

cross-disciplinary researchers. 

The figure to the right depicts 

some of the potential areas of 

USGS collaboration and 

support toward a coordinated 

interagency national climate 

services program. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Science Mission Directorate, Earth Science Division 

The 2010 National Space Policy stated that NASA plays a crucial role in global climate change 

research and sustained monitoring capabilities, and advances research into and scientific 

knowledge of the global integrated Earth system by accelerating development of new Earth 

observing satellites. The NASA program on global climate change research is comprehensive, 

encompassing continuous interactions between satellite mission development and formulation, 

satellite data analyses, Earth system modeling, new technology, and state-of-the-art scientific 

knowledge for applications. Scientific research and data analysis are conducted through 

competitive peer-reviewed opportunities offered through Research Opportunities in Space and 

Earth Science (ROSES) announcements. 

Climate services will require development and delivery of data, tools, and information that are 

science-based, user-responsive, understandable, credible, and relevant to decision makers. They 

will depend on an integrated system that links essential observations, data, research and analysis, 

and predictions to the iterative development of service-oriented information for societal benefits. 

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NASA’s climate research program is unique because it encompasses the development of 

observational techniques and the instrument technologies needed to implement them; laboratory 

testing and demonstrations from an appropriate set of surface-, balloon-, aircraft-, and spacebased platforms; development and operation of satellite missions and production and 

dissemination of the data products resulting from these missions; research to increase basic 

process knowledge; incorporation of observations and research results into complex 

computational models that can be used to more fully characterize the present state of the 

environment and predict the future evolution of the Earth system; and development of 

partnerships with other national and international organizations that can use the generated 

information in environmental forecasting and in policy, business, and management decisions. 

NASA is the largest funding contributor to the 13-agency United States Global Change Research 

Program (USGCRP) and provides the bulk of the global observations and research by the 

USGCRP. NASA delivers much of the observations and research that forms the basis for 

international scientific assessments of climate change and other subjects such as ozone. In FY 

2012 and 2013, NASA will chair the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Strategic 

Implementation Team (CEOS SIT). 

Satellite Missions. Satellites provide critical climate change measurements via global coverage, 

frequent sampling in both space and time, and near-uniform accuracy and stability. NASA 

initiated, and in selected cases sustained for more than a decade, many global, high accuracy, 

well-calibrated data records, such as total solar irradiance at the top of the atmosphere; Arctic 

Ocean sea ice extent and thickness; Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheet thicknesses; global sea 

level and global ocean surface vector wind; global ocean near-surface chlorophyll-a

concentration; global land use and land cover; ozone in the stratosphere; and, global 

precipitation, including water vapor, rainfall and snow. These critical climate data records are a 

foundation for national and international studies of global and regional climate change. 

NASA has 16 on-orbit satellite missions: ACRIMSAT, Aqua, Aquarius/SAC-D, Aura, 

CALIPSO, Cloudsat, EO-1, GRACE, Jason-1, Landsat-7, OSTM, QuikSCAT, SORCE, SuomiNational Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP), Terra, and TRMM. Table 1 lists the climate services 

themes supported by these missions. On October 28, 2011, the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting 

Partnership mission was launched successfully from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Suomi 

NPP mission serves as a bridge between NASA’s Earth Observing System satellites to the next 

generation Joint Polar Satellite Systems, or JPSS, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) program. 

Table 1. Correlation of NASA Earth Science Division operating satellite missions with OFCM 

themes of climate services. 

 Satellite Launch Date Climate Services Theme 

ACRIMSAT Dec 1999 Climate variability and change 

Aqua May 2002 Atmospheric composition; carbon cycle; climate variability and 

 change; water cycle 

Aquarius Jun 2011 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

Aura Jul 2004 Atmospheric composition 

CALIPSO Apr 2006 Atmospheric composition; water cycle 

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CloudSat Apr 2006 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

EO-1 Nov 2000 Carbon cycle 

GRACE Mar 2002 Earth surface and interior, climate variability and change; water 

cycle 

Jason-1 Dec 2001 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

Landsat-7 Apr 1999 Carbon cycle 

OSTM Jun 2008 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

QuikSCAT Jun 1999 Climate variability and change 

SORCE Jan 2003 Climate variability and change 

Suomi NPP Oct 2011 Atmospheric composition; carbon cycle; climate variability and 

change; water cycle 

Terra Dec 1999 Atmospheric composition; carbon cycle; climate variability and 

 change; water cycle 

TRMM Nov 1997 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

A daunting challenge in supporting the complexity of global and regional climate change science 

is the huge number of biological, chemical and physical variables that must be measured 

simultaneously at all locations. To approximate a solution, NASA engineered constellations of 

satellites flying in close formation. NASA’s Aura, CALIPSO, CloudSat, and Aqua satellites, 

together with the French PARASOL satellite now placed at a lower orbit, are called the “ATrain” constellation and produce an unprecedented quantity of data for atmospheric chemistry 

and composition. Although PARASOL has now fully exited the A-Train, GCOM-W1 (Shizuku), 

launched May 17, 2012 by Japan, has joined the A-Train in front of Aqua. The time separation 

between the front and rear of the A-Train is 11 minutes, less than the lifetime of most clouds; 

this important feature allows researchers to utilize multi-satellite observations to examine 

processes related to cirrus cloud formation in large-scale models. 

NASA has 5 satellite missions in development (Table 2) for launch from 2013 to 2017. LDCM 

and GPM are foundational missions, which the Decadal Survey by the National Research 

Council4 assumed would be precursors to Decadal Survey missions. SMAP and ICESat-2 are 

Tier-I Decadal Survey missions. OCO-2 replaces the original OCO, which did not reach orbit in 

February 2009 due to a launch vehicle failure. SAGE III on the International Space Station and 

GRACE Follow On (GRACE FO) are missions from NASA’s 2010 Climate Initiative. 

CYGNSS is the first in the Earth Venture-class series of rapidly developed, cost-constrained 

small space missions. The President’s FY 2012 Budget accommodates increased launch vehicle 

costs for SMAP and for OCO-2 and supports their selection and contract award through the 

Launch Services Program. The budget supports the launches of SMAP and OCO-2 in early FY 

2015 and late FY2014, respectively. It also supports a dedicated launch of ICESat-2 in 2016 

given the USAF termination of the prior plan for a comanifested launch with its DMSP-20. 

NASA continues with the pre-formulation studies, formulation, and development of other 

Decadal and climate missions such as DESDynI, GRACE FO, SWOT, PACE, and on preformulation studies for the OCO-3 instrument, CLARREO, ASCENDS, ACE, GEO-CAPE, and 

 

4

 National Research Council (2007) Earth Science and Applications From Space: National Imperatives for the Next 

Decade and Beyond, 428 pp. 

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HypIRI. The budget supports the first Earth Venture (EV) facility instrument selection in FY 

2013 and subsequent solicitations every 15-18 months in addition to supporting the formulation 

of the CYGNSS mission and continuation of the EV-1 suborbital mission. 

Table 2. Correlation of NASA Earth Science Division missions in development with OFCM 

themes of climate services. 

Satellite Planned Launch Theme 

OCO-2 Jul 2014 Carbon Cycle 

LDCM Jun 2013 Carbon cycle 

GPM Feb 2014 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

SMAP 2014 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

ICESat-2 2016 Climate variability and change; water cycle 

The climate-focused Tier-2 Decadal Survey mission SWOT for insight into the movement and 

distribution of Earth surface waters including both freshwater and oceans will enter formulation 

soon for launch by 2020. The SAGE-III instrument for flight on the International Space Station 

(ISS) in 2014 will continue in its implementation. The acquisition approach for the ACE mission 

for ocean color will be further defined and an acquisition strategy will be developed. The 

following activities will be undertaken or accomplished in FY 2013. 

 The 2013 Senior Review, conducted at 2-year intervals, will review 13 of the 16 satellite 

missions (all those which are in extended operations funded by NASA: ACRIMSAT, 

Aqua, Aura, CALIPSO, CloudSat, EO-1, GRACE, Jason-1, OSTM, QuikSCAT, SORCE, 

Terra and TRMM) for continued operations and funding of core-data products in FY 

2014 and FY 2015. The missions will be evaluated by a panel of recognized scientists 

for their contributions to research, the utility of their data products, and their costeffectiveness in terms of technical performance and cost of mission extension. 

 Over the last decade NASA launched a series of satellites that offer an unparalleled view 

of Earth from space. That series, known collectively as NASA's Earth Observing System 

(EOS), has provided striking new insights into many aspects of Earth, including its 

clouds, oceans, vegetation, ice, and atmosphere. However, as the EOS satellites age, a 

new generation of Earth-observing satellites are poised to take over. 

 The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership represents a critical first step in building 

this next-generation satellite system. Suomi NPP orbits the Earth about 14 times each day 

and observes nearly the entire surface. The NPP satellite continues key data records that 

are critical for climate change science. 

Suomi NPP carries a diverse payload of scientific instruments to monitor the planet. The 

4,600-pound (2,100 kilogram) spacecraft, which is about the size of a small school bus, 

crosses the equator each afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. local time. It carries five key 

instruments: the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), the Cross-track 

Infrared Sounder (CrIS), the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), the Visible 

Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy 

System (CERES). 

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Scientists will use ATMS, a 22-channel passive microwave radiometer, to create global 

models of temperature and moisture profiles that meteorologists will enter into weather 

forecasting models. CrIS, a Michelson interferometer, will monitor characteristics of the 

atmosphere, such as moisture and pressure that will be used to produce improvements in 

both short-and-long term weather forecasting. OMPS, a suite of hyperspectral-imaging 

spectrometers, will measure Earth's ozone levels, particularly near the poles where ozone 

levels fluctuate the most. VIIRS, a 22-band radiometer, will collect visible and infrared 

views of Earth's dynamic surface processes, such as wildfires, land changes, and ice 

movement. VIIRS will also measure atmospheric and oceanic properties, including 

clouds and sea surface temperature. Finally, CERES, a 3-channel radiometer measuring 

reflected solar radiation, emitted terrestrial radiation, and total radiation, will monitor the 

natural and anthropogenic effects on the Earth's total thermal radiation budget. 

Key science objectives and capabilities of Suomi NPP include: 

o Climate change -- contribute to long-term records of global environmental data 

critical for understanding the dynamics of climate change 

o Health of the ozone layer -- daily measurements of the atmospheric ozone layer 

that will determine whether the ozone layer is recovering as expected 

o Natural disasters -- monitor wildfires, volcanic eruptions, snowstorms, droughts, 

floods, hurricanes and dust plumes 

o Weather predictions -- a sounding instrument will collect information about cloud 

cover, atmospheric temperatures, humidity and other variables critical to accurate 

weather prediction 

o Vegetation -- map global land vegetation and quantify changes in plant 

productivity to understand the global carbon cycle and monitor agricultural 

processes to predict and respond to food shortages and famines 

o Global ice cover -- monitor changes to Earth’s sea ice, land ice and glaciers to 

track the pace of climate change 

o Air pollution -- monitor the spread of health-sapping pollutants such as soot, 

particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide 

o Temperatures -- maintain a global record of atmospheric, land surface and sea 

surface temperatures critical to understanding the long-term dynamics of climate 

change 

o Earth’s energy budget -- make measurements to determine how much energy is 

entering and exiting Earth's atmosphere 

 NASA has selected an ocean wind study proposal led by the University of Michigan from 

among 19 submitted to the agency's Announcement of Opportunity for small spaceflight 

investigations of the Earth system. The proposed mission will make measurements of 

ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes, which 

could help lead to better weather forecasting. 

The competitively-selected proposal, the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 

(CYGNSS), is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Chris Ruf of the University of Michigan, 

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and includes partnerships with the Southwest Research Institute of Texas, Surrey Satellite 

Technology of Colorado and NASA Ames Research Center. 

It is the second award, and first award for space-based investigations, in the Earth 

Venture-class series of rapidly developed, cost-constrained projects for NASA's Earth 

Science Division. The award will be funded during the next five years for $151.7 million. 

The cost includes initial development, launch, deployment and data analysis. 

The mission will use a constellation of small satellites that will be carried to orbit on a 

single launch vehicle. The CYGNSS data will enable scientists, for the first time, to 

probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the inner core of the storms, 

which are rapidly changing and play large roles in the genesis and intensification of 

hurricanes. The CYGNSS measurements also may provide information to the hurricane 

forecast community. 

Once in orbit, CYGNSS's eight micro-satellite observatories will receive both direct and 

reflected signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The direct signals 

pinpoint CYGNSS observatory positions, while the reflected signals respond to ocean 

surface roughness, from which wind speed is retrieved. 

The new and unique contribution of CYGNSS is that it provides: 1) the first satelliteborne, all-weather, oceanic surface wind speed measurements in the inner core of tropical 

cyclones, and 2) post-QuikSCAT ocean wind measurement capability with enhanced 

diurnal sampling, wide-swath coverage, and improved performance in precipitating 

conditions. To meet the science goals, CYGNSS will produce high-temporal sampling of 

ocean surface wind speed in all precipitating conditions, including those experienced in 

the TC (tropical cyclone) eyewall. These wind measurements combined with the Global 

Precipitation Mission (GPM) rainfall measurements will allow scientists to understand 

the physical processes associated with hurricane genesis and rapid intensification. 

The Earth Venture missions are part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder 

program. The small, targeted science investigations complement NASA's larger research 

missions. In 2007, the National Research Council recommended NASA undertake these 

types of regularly solicited, quick-turnaround projects. The previous Earth Venture award 

was for five airborne investigations all of which are progressing well with initial data 

being collected. The first Announcement of Opportunity in the Earth VentureInstruments series was issued earlier this year, and proposals are now under review. 

Remaining activities to be undertaken in FY 2013 include: 

o GPM will complete its observatory environmental testing. 

o LDCM will be launched. 

o SMAP will complete its System Integration Review (SIR). 

o ICESat-2 will complete its Critical Design Review (CDR). 

o OCO-2 will launch in July 2014. It will complete initial observatory 

environmental testing and enter storage. The spacecraft will be delivered in FY14 

for launch. 

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o The GRACE-FO continuity mission will complete its Microwave Instrument 

Preliminary Design Review. 

o SAGE-III will complete its Critical Design Review (CDR) and System Integration 

Review (SIR). 

o SWOT will complete its KDP-A review and enter formulation (Phase A). 

o CYGNSS will compete is Mission Definition Review (MDR). 

o Continuation of Earth Venture-1 sustained airborne science campaigns. 

o During FY 2012, the 5-year Making Earth System Data Records for Use in 

Research Environments (MEaSUREs) projects are coming to a close, with Earth 

System Data Records becoming available to the NASA communities. A second 

ROSES 2012 solicitation is in review with selected projects expected to 

commence in FY 2013. 

NASA Science Research 

While hurricane track prediction has improved in recent decades, improvements in hurricane 

intensity prediction have lagged, primarily as a result of a poor understanding of the processes 

involved in storm intensity change. The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is a fiveyear mission targeted to enhance our understanding of the processes that underlie hurricane 

intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. HS3 will determine the extent to which either the 

environment or processes internal to the storm are key to intensity change. 

The investigation objectives will be achieved using two Global Hawk Uninhabited Aerial 

Systems (UAS) with separate comprehensive environmental and over-storm payloads. The high 

Global Hawk flight altitudes allow overflights of most vertical storm convection and sampling of 

upper-tropospheric winds. Deployments from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and 30-hour 

flight durations will provide access to unrestricted air space, coverage of the entire Atlantic 

Ocean basin, and on-station times up to 10-24 hours depending on storm location. Deployments 

will be from mid-August to mid-September 2012-2014, with ten 30-hour flights per deployment, 

providing an unprecedented and comprehensive data set for approximately nine to twelve 

hurricanes. 

HS3 is focused on the fundamental NASA Earth Science goal to "Study Earth from space to 

advance scientific understanding and meet societal needs" and NASA's Research Objective to 

"enable improved predictive capability for weather and extreme weather events." HS3 

complements NASA's Weather Focus Area and Hurricane Science Research Program. 

The following research activities will be undertaken or accomplished in FY 2013: 

 Release request for proposals through ROSES. 

 Increase supercomputing cycles to 1 quadrillion computer operations per second 

(petaflops) for weather and climate modeling. 

 Continue IceBridge campaigns. 

 Increase the number of science data products delivered to EOSDIS. 

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 Continue operation of ground networks for measuring time evolution of atmospheric 

trace constituents, including gases and aerosols. 

 The Earth Venture-1 (EV-1) missions are conducting the following research: 

o The ATTREX EV-1 investigation uses one of the NASA Global Hawk UASs to 

investigate the physics and chemistry of the tropical upper troposphere and lower 

stratosphere. ATTREX held its initial test deployment in FY12 and will hold its 

first full science campaign in FY13. 

o The DISCOVER-AQ EV-1 investigation made measurements from aircraft and 

the ground of trace gases and aerosols that affect air quality in the WashingtonBaltimore corridor during late June and July 2011. The airborne and groundbased measurements are being correlated with satellite remote sensing 

measurements to improve our ability to characterize and predict air quality. In 

order to characterize a variety of urban environments, similar measurement 

campaigns will take place in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley during the 

last half of January and the first half of February 2013 and in Houston, Texas 

during September 2013. 

Department of Energy/Office of Science 

DOE’s Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) within the Office of Science 

focuses on a predictive, systems-level understanding of the fundamental science associated with 

climate change and DOE's environmental challenges; both key to support the DOE mission. 

CESD supports an integrated portfolio of research ranging from molecular to field scale studies 

with emphasis on the use of advanced computer models and multidisciplinary experimentation. 

As discussed next, CESD supports three research activities and two national scientific user 

facilities: 

Atmospheric System Research (ASR) 

The ASR activity seeks to resolve the two major areas of uncertainty in climate change 

projections: the role of clouds and the effects of aerosol emissions on the atmospheric radiation 

balance. Research from the ASR program results in improved physical formulations leading to 

state-of-the-art science related to clouds, aerosols, radiation, and precipitation. The program is 

geared to observe and advance understanding of the atmospheric system in a holistic, 

comprehensive fashion that addresses the full range of interrelated climatic processes. The 

anticipated end result is that climate models will have reduced uncertainty and improved climate 

simulation capability so that climate models can be used with increased confidence in decisionand policy making. 

Climate and Earth System Modeling 

Climate and Earth System Modeling in CESD focuses on development, evaluation, and use of 

Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM), the development of Earth System Models 

(ESM), and Integrated Assessment Models to determine the impacts and possible mitigation, of 

climate change. 

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Achieving greater detail about uncertainty and future variability of the earth climate system is 

critical for decision-makers. There is a need to ascertain shifts in major modes of climate 

variability and climate extremes, to detect and attribute regional manifestations of climate 

change, and to conduct ever more thorough model validation. All these goals of the RGCM 

program remain significant challenges. This program also provides support for national and 

international climate modeling research and assessments. An understanding of the model biases 

seamlessly feeds back to the ESM program. 

RGCM activities are organized into several distinct but coordinated components: 

 The Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) develops 

improved methods and tools for the diagnosis and intercomparison of climate and Earth 

system models. It provides major facilities for archiving climate model output, including 

frequently analyzed variables such as those used for the IPCC Assessment Reports. 

PCMDI makes such model output readily accessible to the climate modeling community. 

 The Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling Project (COSIM) continues to develop the 

ocean model POP (Parallel Ocean Program), its hybrid-coordinate successor (HYPOP), 

and a sea ice model (CICE). COSIM is also developing a new Community Ice Sheet 

Model (CISM), designed for use at high spatial resolutions and at high latitudes. The 

scientific thrust of this work is to understand the role of oceans and ice in climate change, 

including (1) future sea-level rise caused by thermal expansion of the ocean and by 

melting of land ice; (2) stability of the high-latitude ocean thermohaline circulation; and 

(3) the unique high-latitude marine and ice ecosystems that reside along the ice edge and 

how they respond to changes in sea ice extent, including consequences for carbon and 

sulfur uptake and exchange. 

 Multi-century simulations using the Climate Change Simulation Model (CCSM) are 

conducted by the DOE Climate Change Project at the National Center for Atmospheric 

Research (NCAR). Analysis of CCSM simulations provides insights into how natural and 

anthropogenic forcings affect the coupled climate system. 

Research from the ESM program results in improved state-of-the-science dynamically coupled 

models for understanding future variability and predictability of the climate system. Significant 

scientific challenges need to be addressed, such as future changes in major modes of climate 

variability, climate extremes in a changing climate, detecting and attributing the regional 

manifestations of climate change, and carbon-cycle interactions with climate. Improved climate 

information at high spatial and temporal resolution is of immense significance to society and 

decision-makers. 

Climate change is real, its effects are more immediate and profound than previously anticipated, 

and old questions (are humans the cause?) are yielding to new ones: What are the impacts? Who 

and what will be most vulnerable? What can we do about it, and how can we prepare? Against 

this backdrop, and with an eye toward: (1) regional and local scale insights; (2) quantitative 

predictions at the decadal, annual, and even shorter time scales; (3) policy-making, planning and 

decision-support tools; (4) impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability studies; and (5) highly 

integrated analyses spanning energy, environment, and economic security, new or vastly 

improved Integrated Assessment Models will inform some of the most significant U.S. energy 

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and other infrastructure decisions and investments of this century. These models shape our 

fundamental understanding of climate change: the drivers of climate change; its pace and 

consequences; the implications and role for energy systems of the future; changes in availability 

of natural resources, food, and water; and shifts in global economies, vulnerabilities and overall 

national security. 

Environmental System Science 

The Environmental System Science activity in CESD seeks to advance a robust predictive 

understanding of energy-derived byproducts in terrestrial ecosystems extending from the bedrock 

to the top of the canopy and from molecular to global scales. This activity focuses on 

understanding the role of terrestrial ecosystems in a changing climate5 and the role of subsurface 

biogeochemical processes in the fate and transport of heavy metal and radionuclide contaminants 

in subsurface systems.6

 DOE is responsible for what has been described as the largest, most 

complex, and diverse collection of environmental remediation challenges in the nation. While 

some of the problems are tractable and require only time and money to resolve, a large fraction 

of them cannot be resolved with existing knowledge and technology. The need for solutions to 

these challenging environmental remediation problems drives the Environmental System Science 

program. 

Future climatic changes will almost certainly affect many important organisms and processes in 

terrestrial ecosystems, and these ecosystems provide society with a host of essential goods and 

services. The Environmental System Science program's research is directed at obtaining and then 

disseminating scientific knowledge of the most important effects of climatic change on 

ecosystems so that society can understand the ecological implications of climatic change and

then plan for those changes. While the program focuses on U.S. terrestrial ecosystems, much of 

the knowledge gained has global applicability. 

The terrestrial biosphere is a major factor influencing the transport and concentration of 

atmospheric greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. Current limitations of our 

understanding of carbon cycling through terrestrial ecosystems account for significant 

uncertainties in projections of future climate scenarios. This program seeks to identify critical 

carbon cycle pathways, provide quantitative explanations for those pathways and integrate the 

resulting process understanding into coupled carbon-climate models. 

CESD National Scientific User Facilities 

Two scientific user facilities—the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research 

Facility (ARM) and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)—provide the 

scientific community with technical capabilities, scientific expertise, and unique information to 

facilitate science in areas of importance to DOE’s mission. The ARM is a multiplatform facility 

that supports research for addressing the major uncertainties of climate models: clouds and 

aerosols. It provides the national and international research community unparalleled 

infrastructure for obtaining precise observations of key atmospheric phenomena needed to 

advance the understanding of understanding atmospheric process and improve climate models. 

 

5

 See http://science.energy.gov/ber/research/cesd/terrestrial-ecosystem-science/. 

6

 See http://science.energy.gov/ber/research/cesd/subsurface-biogeochemical-research/. 

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The facilities and capabilities of EMSL are available to the general scientific and engineering 

communities to conduct research in the environmental molecular sciences and related areas. 

Within DOE, the ARM’s major clients are the ASR, RGCM, and ESM programs of CESD 

(described above). The primary ARM objective is improved scientific understanding of the 

fundamental physics related to interactions between clouds, aerosols, and radiative feedback 

processes in the atmosphere. In addition, the ARM has enormous potential to advance scientific 

knowledge in a wide range of 

interdisciplinary Earth sciences. The ARM 

was the first climate change field research 

facility to operate cutting-edge 

instrumentation on a long-term continuous 

basis and at both fixed and varying 

locations around the globe. The ARM field 

research sites are designed to study the 

effects of aerosols, precipitation, surface 

flux, and clouds on global climate change. 

The fixed sites are located in three diverse 

climate regimes representing mid-latitude, 

polar, and tropical environs (i.e., the 

Southern Great Plains and the North Slope 

of Alaska in the United States and the 

Tropical Western Pacific). With its aerial 

measurement capability and mobile ground 

facilities, ARM provides the world’s most 

comprehensive continuous observational capabilities for obtaining atmospheric data specifically 

for addressing the major scientific uncertainties in climate change. 

Each ARM site uses a leading-edge array of cloud-, aerosol-, and precipitation-observing 

instruments to record long-term continuous measurements of atmospheric and surface properties. 

ARM also provides shorter term (months rather than years) measurements with its two mobile 

ground facilities and aerial measurement capability. The combination of high temporal resolution 

at discrete locations makes ARM observations uniquely suited for studying local cloud 

processes, many aspects of which remain poorly represented in climate models. The resultant 

data are available through the ARM’s data archive. These data are used as a resource for over 

100 journal articles per year, which represent tangible evidence of the ARM's contribution to 

advances in most areas of atmospheric radiation and cloud research. Additional programmatic 

information is available via the ARM homepage. 

EMSL offers users access to more than 60 major systems, including many one-of-a-kind 

analytical instruments for studying atomic to molecular to larger-scale processes, a 

supercomputing platform and associated computational chemistry software, and the in-house 

scientific expertise to help obtain high quality results in a timely fashion. By co-locating multiple 

types of capabilities and scientific expertise, EMSL serves as an ideal place for research teams 

interested in integrating theory with experiment, as well as a place to conduct a wide range of 

single-investigator studies. 

Radar Wind Profiler and radio acoustic sounding 

system (RASS), ARM site at Barrow, Alaska. 

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Detailed scientific knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring at the 

most fundamental levels is necessary to discover and fully utilize breakthroughs in areas such as 

hydrogen as a new energy source, improved catalysts and materials for industrial applications, 

insights into the factors influencing climate change and carbon sequestration processes, new 

approaches to managing legacy wastes such as radionuclide and heavy metal contamination, and 

making bioenergy sources a reality. The complex nature of DOE's energy, science, and 

environmental missions demands a wide range of leading-edge experimental and computational 

capabilities to enable scientists to conduct 

fundamental and multidisciplinary research using 

multiple experiment and computational 

approaches that will lead to scientific advances to 

help address the DOE missions. EMSL provides 

these leading-edge experimental and 

computational capabilities to the scientific 

community. 

DOE’s Next-Generation Ecosystem 

Experiments Project 

The Arctic is undergoing a system-wide 

reorganization in response to an altered climate. 

The mechanisms responsible for this change have 

been unpredictable and difficult to isolate due to a 

large number of interactions among individual 

components of the system. The Next-Generation 

Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) project will 

quantify the complex physical, chemical, and 

biological behavior of terrestrial ecosystems in Alaska. The project will focus on interactions that 

drive ecosystem-climate feedbacks through greenhouse-gas fluxes and changes in surface energy 

balance associated with thawing permafrost and threshold-dominated permafrost degradation and 

thermokarst formation. Research sites will be located along a bioclimate gradient that spans 

tundra and shrub-tundra transition zones on the North Slope and Seward Peninsula. 

The vision for the NGEE project is to deliver a high-resolution terrestrial system model for 

coupled thermal, hydrological, geomorphic, biogeochemical, and vegetation processes as needed 

to predict the evolution of a warming Arctic landscape and its feedback to the global climate 

system. This vision includes field observations, laboratory experiments, and modeling of critical 

and interrelated water, nitrogen, carbon, and energy dynamics and the important interactions, 

from the molecular scale to the landscape scale, that drive feedbacks to the climate system. 

National Science Foundation (NSF) 

The National Science Foundation funds basic climate research, modeling, and process studies. 

This research portfolio includes support to individual investigators and to groups such as the 

Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), the Center for Multiscale Modeling of 

Atmospheric Processes, and NCAR. With DOE as a partner, NSF funds NCAR to develop, 

maintain, and support the Community Earth System Model (CESM), a fully-coupled global 

The new scanning precipitation radar at the 

Barrow, Alaska, ARM site. 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs 

climate model that provides state-of-the-art computer simulations of the Earth’s past, present, 

and future climate states. As part of a cross-directorate and interagency effort, NSF, DOE and 

USDA will be funding new research projects in FY13 with a focus on decadal and regional 

prediction using Earth System Models. Work on the first round of awards made through this 

program is ongoing. Also in FY13, the NCAR/Wyoming Supercomputer will be made available 

for a variety of research topics, including climate modeling studies, partially satisfying the ever 

growing need in the climate community for new computing resources. 

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Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND 

HOMELAND SECURITY SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to support U.S. citizens 

and first responders to ensure that as a Nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve 

our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. 

In carrying out its role, FEMA works with the Federal scientific community and meteorological 

agencies to ensure that appropriate risk information for hazards, vulnerabilities, and 

consequences is used to execute this mission. 

FEMA’s Planning Division administers the National Hurricane Program, which conducts 

hurricane evacuation studies, provides evacuation decision-making training, and provides a range 

of hurricane evacuation decision support tools to State and local government emergency 

management officials to develop their hurricane evacuation plans. Under an Interagency 

Agreement with the National 

Weather Service’s National 

Hurricane Center (NWS/NHC), the 

NHC builds and utilizes its SLOSH 

(Sea, Lake and Overland Surges 

from Hurricanes) storm surge model 

as the hazard analysis basis for 

Hurricane Program studies, training, 

and decision support to State and 

local governments. . 

It is critical for FEMA to identify, 

develop, and/or utilize the most 

appropriate meteorological information to calibrate its preparedness, 

response, and recovery activities to 

build and deploy emergency 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services are those 

specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of Federal, 

state, and local agencies responding to natural disasters and security incidents. This category includes 

the use of atmospheric transport and diffusion (ATD) models for predicting the dispersion of airborne 

toxic substances; it also includes natural disaster monitoring and prediction services and the transport 

of water-borne toxic substances not included in basic services. For example, numerical weather 

prediction models used to forecast the path, intensity, and storm surge of landfalling tropical cyclones 

are part of basic services. Downstream models of the effects of a landfalling tropical cyclone on the 

infrastructure and population of a particular populated area could be included in this service category. 

FEMA’s interagency collaboration and support is key to 

disaster impact assessments and plans. 

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Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

management capability, and to design and implement mitigation measures which reduce the con–

sequences from emergencies and disasters. These interests extend to national standards for 

geographic information systems (GIS) used for delivery of meteorological products and services 

by other agencies. As administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), FEMA 

publishes Flood Insurance Rate Maps for all flood-prone communities, which serve as the 

official demarcation for flood risk. 

FEMA actively supports the OFCM-sponsored Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments 

and Plans: Weather and Water Data (WG/DIAP) and the WG/DIAP’s efforts to develop and 

implement the National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments which outlines the interagency 

procedures to coordinate and support the collection of perishable data after major storms. These 

data have applications in post-disaster mitigation activities, the NFIP flood hazard analysis, the 

FEMA National Hurricane Program hurricane, and other FEMA risk analysis activities, such as 

the Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation Methodology (HAZUS). The National Hurricane Program is 

the principal FEMA contact point for most meteorological matters, while the FEMA Risk 

Analysis Division is the primary contact for NFIP flood risk analysis. 

Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center 

Under the National Response Framework, the mission of the Interagency Modeling and 

Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) is to provide a single point for the coordination and 

dissemination of Federal dispersion modeling and hazard prediction products that represent the 

Federal position during an actual or potential incident. The IMAAC provides plume modeling 

analyses of the impacts of hazardous atmospheric releases to aid in protecting the public and the 

environment. 

The IMAAC is led by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and supported by seven 

other federal departments and agencies: Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy 

(DOE), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 

Decision makers and first responders need timely and accurate plume predictions to help guide 

emergency response decisions. The IMAAC provides a suite of plume modeling tools that 

incorporate meteorological, geographic and demographic data, as well as hazardous material 

information, to predict the transport and potential downwind consequences of biological, 

chemical, radiological/nuclear, and natural releases. The IMAAC experts are available 24/7 to 

produce detailed quality-assured model predictions, utilize observations and field measurement 

data to refine analyses, and assist decision makers in product interpretation. 

The IMAAC produces both technical analyses and briefing products tailored for communications 

to non-technical decision makers. The IMAAC plots and consequence reports show hazard 

areas, affected populations, potential casualties and/or fatalities, damage estimates, and health 

effect, public protective action and worker protection levels. The IMAAC utilizes NOAA 

National Weather Service’s meteorological observations and designated preferred model forecast 

for the plume models. The IMAAC may also use an in-house higher-resolution forecast model if 

determined to be representative or if IMAAC does not have access to the preferred forecast data. 

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The IMAAC has responded to numerous real-world events, including chemical fires and train 

derailments, in-situ burns from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and sulfur dioxide volcanic 

emissions in Hawaii. 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP). The National Weather Service 

(NWS) has oversight responsibility for the NTHMP. The mission of the NTHMP is to work 

with communities in vulnerable U.S. coastal areas on preparedness activities to respond to 

tsunami events. In response to the destructive Indian Ocean Tsunami (December 2004), the U.S. 

Tsunami Warning Program, including the NTHMP, was upgraded and expanded to enhance the 

monitoring, detection, warning, and communications capabilities designed to protect lives and 

property for all U.S. communities at risk. 

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). NWR is used as a reliable means of communicating weatherrelated warnings directly to the public. 

FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and CMAS/WEA. The NWS 

pushes watches, warnings, advisories, and special statements in Common Alerting Protocol 

(CAP) format to the FEMA IPAWS Alert Aggregator. Starting Summer 2012, warnings that 

pose an “imminent threat” to the general public will be broadcast to cell phones in the threat area 

compatible with the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), also known as Wireless 

Emergency Alerts (WEA). Each CMAS/WEA message will have a maximum length of 90 

characters. The message notifies the recipient of the alert type, expiration time, a brief 

description of the action to be taken, and name of the alert originator (i.e., NWS). All major and 

numerous smaller wireless carriers have opted-in to provide the CMAS/WEA service. Wireless 

carriers began nationwide rollout of CMAS/WEA on April 7, 2012. 

Other alerting systems, including the Emergency Alert System (EAS), will be able to access 

NWS CAP messages in the Alert Aggregator for repackaging and/or redistribution as early as 

late summer 2012. 

Interagency Activities. In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, NWS 

forecasters provide meteorological support for response to terrorist acts and other homeland 

security concerns, as well as accidental releases/spills of hazardous chemical, biological, or 

radioactive materials or other environmental events. The NWS has a meteorologist permanently 

deployed at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) as a liaison to provide 

real-time information to national decision makers. Similarly, NOAA has a liaison deployed to 

the DHS National Operations Center. 

NWS meteorologists provide forecasts in response to Incidents of National Significance such as 

the space shuttle Columbia recovery effort, Hurricane Katrina, volcanic eruptions in Iceland, and 

after major tornado events such as those in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri during the 

spring of 2011. In addition, the NWS deploys a national cadre of specially trained Incident 

Meteorologists (IMETs) to provide onsite support for large wildfires and other homeland 

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Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

security concerns, as well as for accidental releases/spills of hazardous chemical, biological, or 

radioactive materials. 

NOAA/National Ocean Service 

Coastal Oceanographic Applications and Services for Tides and Lakes (COASTAL). The 

COASTAL program focuses on non-navigational applications of CO-OPS observing systems, 

data, and products for ecosystem restoration and management. COASTAL also provides 

decision-support tools to aid managers and restoration practitioners to plan for both current and 

future coastal conditions, and to anticipate and mitigate natural hazards. Real-time water level 

and meteorological information is critical for emergency managers to make decisions related to 

evacuation and warnings for coastal communities as well as to produce storm surge predictions. 

The Storm QuickLook product in particular incorporates water level and meteorological 

information measured at National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) and Physical 

Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) stations. Storm QuickLook bulletins are posted for 

tropical cyclones that affect the United States coastline, but have also been created for the 

Deepwater Horizon oil spill and, in FY 2011, for elevated water levels in the Mississippi River. 

These bulletins provide near real-time, continuously updating oceanographic and meteorological 

data measured at affected water level stations and are displayed on the CO-OPS website and on 

the NOAAWatch (the NOAA All-Hazard Monitor) page. FY 2013 goals for this product are to 

enhance displays and make the product more dynamic. Also, 6-minute interval GOES 

transmission capability supports the NWS storm surge warning program when expected water 

level elevations are predicted or observed during coastal storms and hurricanes. COASTAL also 

provides aid to Tsunami Warning Centers, by supplying one-minute water level observations at 

coastal NWLON stations, as well as 15-second data as requested after a tsunami event. These 

data are used to assess the impact and damage of a tsunami. In FY 2013, NOS will be ingesting 

and displaying NWS-operated tsunami station data on the CO-OPS web page with NOS oneminute data for NWS Tsunami Warning Centers to access together with the web page tools. 

NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

Among the NOAA/OMAO airborne observing systems fleet, the King Air (N68RF) and AC695A Commander 1000 (N45RF) aircraft perform damage assessment flights following natural 

disasters. They provide high-resolution photographs to the public via the Internet. These 

photographs are extremely useful to local, county, and state government personnel, as well as to 

emergency managers and to the public at large, as they go about the business of assessing the 

damage and the nature and magnitude of the relief effort that will be required in the region. 

United States Air Force

Air Force Weather (AFW) enables Joint Warfighters to anticipate and exploit the weather for air, 

ground, space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. As this applies to the ‘Emergency 

Response and Homeland Security Services’ category, AFW provides meteorological 

environmental information, products, and services required to support Air Force, Army, and 

other military operations in order to support the Nation’s emergency response and homeland 

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security efforts. Different organizations within AFW support various aspects of the Nation’s 

homeland security efforts: 

 The Air Force Weather Agency’s (AFWA) 1st Weather Group produces environmental 

products used to support both the daily and emergency response and homeland security 

operations of the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American 

Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). AFWA produces fine-resolution model and 

forecast products for use by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in its hazard 

dispersion modeling and related emergency planning and response efforts. 

 AFWA produces both CONUS and worldwide geospatial representations of current and 

forecast weather used to support the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in 

its homeland security mission. 

 AFWA provides backup to several NOAA operational centers, maintaining capabilities 

(for example) in severe weather, aviation, volcanic ash dispersion, and space weather, 

available if and when needed to support emergency response and homeland security. 

 The Air Force’s overseas Operational Weather Squadrons (the 17th OWS in Hawaii and 

the 21st OWS in Germany) may support emergency planning and response operations in 

their respective areas of responsibility. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), 

operated jointly with the Navy in Hawaii, routinely works with its sister US hurricane 

forecast centers to issue forecasts and warnings to protect US assets and interests across 

the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. 

United States Navy

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response 

Navy METOC personnel support Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR) 

operations aboard U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels. Most of the Command’s personnel and 

assets deployed for this mission were engaged in conducting hydrographic surveys of ports of 

interest after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti from an epicenter located 10 

miles southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Hydrographic surveys are necessary in order to 

determine navigational hazards that could impede the egress of Navy assets involved in the relief 

support and enable the flow of humanitarian supplies. Personnel from the Naval Oceanographic 

Office conducted airborne lidar surveys of Port-au-Prince using the Compact Hydrographic 

Airborne Rapid Total Survey system. Port facilities and airports may be completely closed, 

electric power and potable water are not available to large segments of the population, delivery 

of food, medicine, gasoline, and other necessities severely limited. Communication systems, 

sanitation and sewage systems are rendered inoperable. As military and government facilities 

are also disrupted, the country becomes highly susceptible to aggression from competitive states 

or terrorist activities. Other Naval Oceanographic Office personnel aboard the naval 

oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson were called in to conduct port safety of navigation 

surveys in support of ship-to-shore humanitarian relief operations. Weather forecasts and 

surveys of anchorages and piers provided commanders with the status of port accessibility, 

ensuring accessibility to the port critical to allowing food, water, medical supplies, materials, and 

other support to arrive by sea. 

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Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

Radiologic incidents 

Navy provided assistance operations to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 

Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. US Navy's commitment to relief operations were illustrated as 

as an aircraft carrier positioned downwind direction of the nuclear plant to support emergency 

relief efforts and minimize human suffering,. One helicopter made a landing at Fukushima 

Airport after experiencing rotor icing and exposed some Australian and U.S. personnel to minor 

contamination. Dubbed Operation Tomodachi -- Japanese for "friendship" -- U.S. military assets 

mobilizing in the area include a wide range of equipment, air, sea, and ground capability and 

expertise from medical to communications to civil engineering. Yokota Air Base in Japan was 

instrumental in recovering airline traffic in the hours immediately following the earthquake. 

Yokota was used as an alternate airfield for planes that cannot land at Tokyo's Narita Airport. 

The air base also provided theater weather forecasts and coordinated with the Integrated 

Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) operated by the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency (DTRA). 

U.S. Marine Corps 

Chemical Biological Incident Response Force 

The Marine Corps’ Chemical Biological Incident Response Force was established in 1996 in 

response to Presidential Decision Directive 39 to manage the consequences of nuclear, 

biological, and chemical (NBC) materials or weapons used by terrorists. This national-level 

asset is part of the reactivated 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade–Anti-Terrorism, located at 

Indian Head, Maryland. It comprises specially trained and equipped Navy, Marine, and civilian 

personnel who can rapidly be forward deployed or otherwise respond to a credible threat of a 

chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) incident in order to assist 

local, State, or Federal agencies and designated unified incident commanders in the conduct of 

consequence management operations. Within the S-2 (Security Section), permanently assigned 

METOC forecasters provide specialized NBC dispersion forecast products and services that aid 

this organization in accomplishing a mission. 

Department of Energy 

Operational Meteorological Services at DOE Facilities 

In support of its national security, scientific research, and environmental stewardship missions, 

DOE has established, operated, and maintained operational meteorology programs at its field 

sites, national laboratories and offices. It has also managed various atmospheric research projects 

in support of emergency preparedness & response and homeland security services among other 

activities. With respect to these programs, Departmental sites and national laboratories collect 

quality-assured meteorological data, provide weather forecasting services, and develop sitespecific climatology from these measurements. 

Emergency response and homeland security services require characterization of various 

atmospheric processes that determine the fate and transport of hazardous materials released into 

the atmosphere. A central theme of meteorology programs is to protect public health and safety, 

and the environment, on and around DOE facilities by accurately measuring and characterizing 

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the relevant local atmospheric processes to establish real-time and forecasted atmospheric 

transport and diffusion estimates. 

Activities at DOE sites include support to daily operations (e.g., work-force safety under 

hazardous weather and emergency conditions) and national defense programs; each requiring 

24/7 support from well-managed meteorological programs. 

Meteorological Support to DOE Operations 

Operational meteorology support programs provide daily customized meteorological monitoring 

and climatology services and weather forecasts for national defense projects, and nuclear safety 

and emergency preparedness and response programs. Each meteorological program is primarily 

focused on supporting emergency response, protecting the safety and health of onsite workers 

and the public, and environmental protection. 

Operational meteorology programs are established at Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven 

National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Lawrence Livermore National 

Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Oak 

Ridge Reservation (ORR) inclusive of Y-12, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Hanford Site, Pantex Plant, Sandia National 

Laboratory/Albuquerque, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and Savannah River site, 

and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. 

Some sites incorporate 24-hour severe weather watches to mitigate the potential adverse impacts 

on site operations and construction projects, property, and lives. Two sites have received a Storm 

Ready certification and others intend to pursue future certification. DOE-wide lightning safety 

initiatives are becoming integral elements of Integrated Safety Management Systems; supported 

by operational meteorology programs at NNSS, Hanford, Pantex, ORNL, Y-12, SRNL, and INL. 

Moreover, many sites employ state-of-the-art instrumentation in their meteorological monitoring 

networks, inclusive of vertical profilers, sound detection and ranging instruments, and sonic 

anemometry. At some DOE sites, observations are entered into the National Weather Service 

database through the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System. 

Large reservation DOE sites (e.g., INL, ORR, NNSS, Hanford, and SRNL); as well as several 

other sites are located in areas with heterogeneous surface characteristics (e.g., land-water 

interface, mountain-valley morphology, forests) and experience complex local weather 

conditions and resultant airflow trajectories. At these locations, diagnostic and prognostic 

characterization of local three-dimensional wind fields is vitally important to determine realistic 

and trustworthy consequence assessment results. For these reasons, multi-location 

comprehensive onsite meteorological monitoring programs are essential. ORNL has produced a 

comprehensive characterization of the wind fields in the Oak Ridge, TN area that is being used 

to fine-tune its ATD modeling, and other sites have extensively studied site-specific atmospheric 

flow phenomena. Several DOE sites also use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration Weather Research Forecasting tool in their emergency response prognosticative 

models. 

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

The NRC Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response coordinates NRC responses to 

nuclear facility emergencies through the activation of the NRC Operations Center. The 

Protective Measures Team dose analysts in the NRC Operations Center rely on the Radiological 

Assessment System for Consequence Analysis (RASCAL) model to assess offsite consequences 

in the event of a radiological accident at a NRC-licensed facility. 

The NRC also maintains an interest in the transport and dispersion of airborne hazardous and 

nonradioactive materials on the safe operation of nuclear facilities and uses SAFER Real-Time 

to assess protective action levels for making recommendations in the event of a non-radiological 

accident at an NRC licensee. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

The USGS mission provides for "the classification of the public lands and the examination of the 

geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the National Domain.” The USGS serves 

the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; 

minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and 

mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. Among its broad responsibilities 

and efforts are identification, assessment, and monitoring of potentially hazardous areas; 

development of capabilities to predict the time, place, and the severity of hazardous geologic, 

hydrometeorologic, biologic, and chemical conditions or events; and dissemination of the 

findings and their implications, including the provision of technical and scientific advice to 

public officials. The USGS also maintains Bureau-wide efforts intended to educate the public 

about natural hazards. 

The USGS has been delegated the Federal responsibility to provide notification and warnings for 

earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides. In addition, USGS data-collection networks provide realtime information needed by other agencies to issue forecasts and warnings related to a variety of 

hazards. For example, the USGS seismic network supports NOAA tsunami warnings; the USGS 

streamgage network supports NOAA flood forecasts (see Hydrometeorological and Water 

Resources Services); the USGS geomagnetic observations support solar storm forecasts (see 

Space Weather Services); USGS biologic monitoring of wildlife diseases enhances assessments 

of potential human pathogens such as the H1NI influenza virus; and USGS geospatial and 

remotely sensed information supports a broad spectrum of disaster-response activities and 

operations from an “all-hazards” perspective. 

The USGS established a secondary reception station for NOAA GOES at the USGS Earth 

Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD. Three new satellite 

antennas and an existing antenna at EROS are used in support of this effort. Three of these 

antennas support communications with the GOES East and GOES West satellites, along with a 

hot spare. The remaining antenna is designated for a DOMSAT link, which is used for data 

dissemination. EROS also receives streamgage data in real time from the GOES satellites and is 

making these data available to USGS and other stakeholders. The receive station at EROS serves 

as a backup to the primary site [station] at Wallops Island, Virginia, which otherwise would 

represent a single point of failure in this vital data collection and dissemination system. 

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Beyond network operations, the USGS has the expertise and infrastructure to acquire, assess, 

disseminate, or preserve information that can be derived from the study of geological, 

hydrological, meteorological, chemical, or biological conditions before, during, or after an 

imminent or declared disaster or emergency. These capabilities can be tapped through mission 

assignments, interagency agreements, or third-party contracts, as provided by law and regulation. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research/ Air Resources Laboratory 

Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) Headquarters develops and improves dispersion and air quality 

models, collects research-grade air quality and deposition measurements of select air quality 

parameters, and provides climate-relevant datasets and assessments of climate variability and 

trends. Some products developed by ARL augment the operational product suites of the NOAA 

service-oriented line offices, particularly the NWS. Other products are state-of-the art, webbased assessment tools that serve university researchers, Federal research agencies, and 

international partners. For instance, ARL continues to improve dispersion tools that provide 

forecast support to NOAA's emergency response activities with an emphasis on chemical, 

nuclear, and volcanic events. For this application, ARL develops and couples advanced 

dispersion models with the forecast products of the NWS to provide a basis for trajectory and 

dispersion calculations. The ARL Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory 

(HYSPLIT) model is operational at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction 

(NCEP) and serves as the national dispersion forecasting capability in several other countries. 

Registered users can also access HYSPLIT products via the Internet. HYSPLIT is the major 

product employed in the operations of the Regional Specialized Meteorology Center (RSMC) set 

up as a joint undertaking of ARL and NCEP under the auspices of the World Meteorological 

Organization (WMO). The WMO/RSMC is the source of dispersion products in the event that a 

radioactive plume crosses international boundaries. 

ARL also conducts research and development to improve NOAA’s operational air quality 

forecast system. This includes extending the domain covered by operational ozone and wildfire 

smoke forecasts, improving wind-blown dust prediction capabilities, and working toward a 

future operational particulate matter prediction. 

The ARL Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 

conducts research and development in air quality, climate, and atmospheric dispersion, with an 

emphasis on understanding and predicting the behavior of the lowest portion of the atmosphere. 

The main research goals are to develop better methods for predicting transport, dispersion, and 

air-surface exchange of air pollutants and to improve reference-grade measurement of climate 

change and related physical and chemical processes. 

ARL Headquarters and ATDD jointly conduct world-class research on the atmospheric mercury 

cycle. While mercury emissions come from a variety of sources and media, the majority of 

mercury released to the environment occurs as atmospheric emissions. From the atmosphere, 

mercury is eventually deposited in watersheds and receiving waters, where it can be converted to 

methyl mercury, a highly toxic form, which bioaccumulates in the aquatic food chain leading to 

the fish used as human and livestock food sources. A cornerstone of ARL’s work is a state-of2-129
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the-art modeling system that tracks mercury emission sources and links these emissions to 

atmospheric transport, transformation, and deposition. 

ARL also conducts long-term intensive monitoring of mercury in ambient air. Data collected are 

analyzed to gain useful insights into the origin, transport, and deposition of atmospheric mercury 

and for interpreting and evaluating ARL’s mercury modeling system. ARL’s mercury products 

and services directly support air quality decision makers, air quality forecasters, and the mercury 

research community. 

The ATDD also operates an intensive urban research meteorological network within the National 

Capital Region, called DCNet. The network has been in operation since 2003 and consists of 15 

stations that collect the standard meteorological parameters (temperature, wind speed, and 

direction) and also measure characteristics of atmospheric turbulence. DCNet provides critical 

data and insights that improve predictions of where airborne hazardous materials will go, thereby 

improving emergency managers’ ability to protect first responders and the public. With a strong 

focus on data quality, DCNet is designed to support development of urban monitoring 

methodologies and observation standards; evaluation of the utility of using private 

meteorological observing networks within urban environments; and accumulation of an intensive 

dataset for model evaluation and initialization, process studies, and decision support. DCNet 

observations are used by numerous government security and emergency management activities 

within the National Capital Region. ATDD also participates in the Interagency Monitoring of 

Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program, a Federal land management and 

Environmental Protection Agency air quality and visibility program focused on measuring 

particulate matter over the United States. 

The ARL Field Research Division (FRD), in Idaho Falls, Idaho, designs and conducts field 

studies to evaluate the performance of transport and dispersion models at local, regional, and 

continental scales. The FRD has also continuously observed and recorded meteorological 

conditions at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and its environs since 1948. The FRD 

manages the 35-station NOAA/INL Meteorological Monitoring Network, an observing mesonet 

that includes advanced hardware and software. This network contributes to the generation of site 

forecasts and severe weather notices issued for special and routine INL operations. FRD 

meteorologists staff the DOE Emergency Operations Center during drills and emergencies, such 

as accidental toxic chemical releases and wildfires. 

The ARL Special Operations and Research Division (SORD) in Las Vegas, Nevada, conducts 

research on problems of mutual interest to NOAA and DOE that relate to the Nevada Test Site, 

its atmospheric environment, and its emergency preparedness and response activities. SORD is 

involved in research related to the desert environment, including improvements to the Weather 

Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model and research on the climate effects of the El 

Niño Southern Oscillation. 

ARL also participates in national networks that direct research attention on the needs of the next 

generation of predictive models. One of these is the Atmospheric Integrated Research 

Monitoring Network (AIRMoN), which is a nested network with sites of varying complexity that 

address scientific issues of wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere. A major current item for 

scientific attention is the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds and its role in 

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promoting eutrophication of ecosystems, primarily coastal systems. A second example is ARL’s 

collaboration with the Global Monitoring Division (GMD) of NOAA’s Earth System Research 

Laboratory (ESRL) in operating the Surface Energy Budget Network (SEBN) as a contribution

to NOAA’s Climate Observing Systems. SEBN provides a complete set of data that describes the 

physics of energy exchange and feedbacks at the land-surface interface. Many of these stations 

are augmented with instrumentation to measure fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat, momentum, 

and carbon dioxide. SEBN provides valuable information for evaluating and improving the 

parameterization of the land-atmosphere interface in predictive models. 

Department of Energy 

The Department of Energy (DOE) Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) was 

established in 1994 to coordinate meteorological activities among the field offices to enhance 

cost effectiveness and productivity and to leverage synergistic opportunities. DOE has delegated 

the operation of its site/facility meteorological programs to NOAA and to non-Federal for-profit 

management and operating contractors. The DMCC membership is therefore composed of 

subject-matter experts from within the DOE complex, representing the three components with 

operational responsibilities for the following programs: 

 Department of Commerce (DOC/NOAA) under an interagency agreement 

 Management and operating (M&O) contractors 

 Private contractors 

The DMCC operates as a subcommittee of the DOE Emergency Management Issues Special 

Interest Group (EMI SIG) and has a web page that can be accessed directly or through the web 

page of the Subcommittee for Consequence Assessment and Protective Actions (SCAPA). 

DMCC also issues an annual report as part of its presentation to the EMI SIG Steering 

Committee. 

A current DMCC project is to improve the provision of quality-assured meteorological 

information and execution of transport and diffusion models that meet software quality assurance 

requirements. Products of the DMCC include evaluations of meteorological requirements 

contained in DOE orders and guidance documents, site meteorological program peer reviews 

(i.e., meteorological program assist visits), and, as needed, customized technical assistance. The 

DMCC developed tools to enable DOE/NNSA sites to perform self-assessments of their 

individual meteorological monitoring programs and the meteorological aspects of consequence 

assessment. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) plans, recommends, and implements a 

program of nuclear regulatory research for nuclear power plants and other facilities regulated by 

the NRC. RES provides technical support, technical tools, and information to identify and 

resolve safety issues for current and new designs and technologies through testing, data 

development, analysis, and national and international collaboration. RES also develops 

regulatory guidance and participates in the development of criteria and consensus standards 

related to the protection of the public health and safety and the environment. 

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Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

The NRC Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) has been evaluating 

performance of large scale (greater than 1000 people) evacuations due to natural and man-made 

causes in the contiguous 48 states. This is documented in NUREG/CR-6864, Identification and 

Analysis of Factors Affecting Emergency Evacuations. An additional study continues to analyze 

the large evacuations of 2005. NSIR is also planning to update its RASCAL dose assessment 

model to access NWS data via the internet. 

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 Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Services 

HYDROMETEOROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) 

has the primary responsibility among Federal agencies to provide advanced alerts of hydrologic 

conditions via flood warnings and river forecasts in the United States. A field infrastructure 

which includes 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), 13 River Forecast Centers (RFC), the 

National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC), and the National Centers 

for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP) Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) and 

Climate Prediction Center (CPC) work as a team to provide hydrologic forecast and warning 

services to minimize the loss of life and property from flooding and to meet the growing water 

resources service needs of our Nation. NWS hydrologic products and services support decision 

makers from a spectrum of service sectors including emergency management, agriculture, 

hydropower, reservoir management, and watershed management, river commerce, municipal and 

industrial water supply, and recreation. 

WFOs assess and monitor the threat of flash and river flooding 24 hours a day 7 days a week to 

provide timely and accurate life-saving flood watches and warnings. Toward this end, WFOs 

integrate a spectrum of RFC, NCEP and NOHRSC guidance, Doppler weather radar 

(NEXRAD)-based precipitation estimates, and real-time telemetered precipitation and stream 

gauge observations, to provide routine river forecast services and critical, event-based decision 

support services. In addition, WFOs routinely conduct local outreach and education to heighten 

public and partner awareness of flood risks and NWS hydrologic services. 

RFCs routinely generate short range (deterministic) through extended range (probabilistic) river 

forecasts and flash flood guidance. Information from the RFCs serves as the basis for local flood 

and flash flood warnings, watches, and advisories issued by the WFOs. These RFC products 

typically incorporate guidance from HPC, CPC, NOHRSC and the WFOs, and emphasize 

flooding impacts from meteorological events based on geographic area, land use, time of the 

year, and other factors. In order to provide objective simulations of future river flows, RFCs 

calibrate, operate, and verify sophisticated hydrologic models based on rainfall, soil 

characteristics, quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs), reservoir regulations, and several 

other variables. Some RFCs, especially those in mountainous regions, also provide water-supply 

volume and peak-flow forecasts based on snow pack in high elevations. These water supply 

forecasts are used by a wide range of decision makers, including those in agriculture,

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Services are those 

specialized meteorological services and facilities that combine atmospheric science, hydrology, and 

water resources in order to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information 

on the effects of precipitation events on infrastructure, water supplies, and waterways. These products 

and services also meet the needs of the general public in the conduct of everyday activities and for the 

protection of lives and property. 

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hydroelectric dam operation and electricity generation, and water resources management. RFCs 

routinely coordinate with their associated WFOs, Federal water partners, stakeholders, and the 

HPC. 

NOHRSC provides comprehensive snow observations, analyses, data sets and map products for 

the Nation. NOHRSC products and services are used by RFCs and WFOs to develop a variety of 

hydrologic products such as spring flood outlooks, water supply outlooks, river and flood 

forecasts, and reservoir inflow forecasts. Additionally, the NOHRSC provides and supports 

geographic information system (GIS) data sets and applications used by the RFCs in generating 

automated hydrologic forecast basin boundaries. NOHRSC products and services also support a 

wide variety of government and private-sector applications in water resource management, 

disaster emergency preparedness, weather and flood forecasting, agriculture, transportation and 

commerce. 

Personnel at the NCEP’s HPC, located in College Park, Maryland, routinely prepare a spectrum 

of forecast products used by the WFOs to develop local rainfall, snow, and ice forecasts and by 

the RFCs to develop local river and flood forecasts. HPC coordinates with RFCs, WFOs and 

other Federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), during 

major flood events. The HPC also provides an array of surface analyses and short-range forecast 

products used by NWS field offices and the weather enterprise. 

NCEP’s CPC monitors and forecasts short-term climate fluctuations and generates guidance to 

communicate the effects climate patterns can have on the Nation. CPC develops and produces a 

suite of centralized numerical climate predictions, monitoring and outlook products, assessments, 

and discussions. These forecast products include 6-10 day, 8-14 day, one-month, and three 

month outlooks which depict the probability the temperature and precipitation will be above or 

below normal. CPC also routinely produces a U.S. Hazards Outlook, a U.S. Seasonal Drought 

Outlook, and partners with the USDA and the National Drought Mitigation Center to produce the 

U.S. Drought Monitor. These products are used by WFOs and RFCs to enhance decision support 

services and serve as an input to RFC-generated, ensemble-based, extended range (probabilistic) 

river forecasts. 

The capabilities of NWS Hydrologic Services were recently expanded through the 

implementation of the Community Hydrologic Prediction System (CHPS) at the 13 NWS RFCs. 

CHPS is a new operational framework, allowing for broad systems interoperability to support 

new water resources-related forecasts. It reinforces NOAA’s national water information strategy, 

allowing NOAA’s research and development enterprise and operational service delivery 

infrastructure to be integrated and leveraged with other Federal water agency activities and the 

private sector. Through CHPS, and under the auspices of the Integrated Water Resources Science 

and Services (IWRSS) Consortium, NOAA will deliver a new suite of high-resolution forecasts 

(including estimates of uncertainty) for streamflow, soil moisture, soil temperature, and many 

other variables directly related to watershed conditions via collaboration and sharing of data and 

models with other Federal, university, and private-sector experts. Furthermore, these activities 

will enable NOAA to deliver a national database of hydrologic analyses and predictions and 

generate user-friendly geographic information system (GIS) products for monitoring floods and 

drought. This activity contributes to the National Integrated Drought Information System 

(NIDIS). 

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Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS). The overarching goals of AHPS are to 

provide: a) better forecast accuracy by incorporating advanced hydrologic science into NWS 

models; b) more specific and timely information on fast-rising floods by using tools which make 

it easier to rapidly identify small basins affected by heavy rainfall and excessive runoff, and 

predict the extent and timing of the resulting inundation; c) new types of forecast information by 

incorporating enhanced techniques for quantifying forecast certainty and conveying this 

information in products which specify the probability of reaching various water levels; d) longer 

forecast horizons; e) easier-to-use products; and f) increased, more timely, and consistent access 

to hydrologic information. AHPS includes a suite of web-based products and information 

designed to support more informed decisions through timely and accurate hydrologic forecasts 

and warnings. 

The NWS continues to implement AHPS which builds on the existing NWS infrastructure, 

including the Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS), NEXRAD, and 

CHPS. AHPS also provides Ensemble Streamflow Prediction - a capability that allows the NWS 

to generate extended range (probabilistic) river forecasts which quantify the forecast certainty. 

This information enables decision makers to apply risk-based analyses as they prepare for, and 

respond to, flooding and better balance competing demands on water supply, especially during 

periods of drought. Another AHPS capability, known as Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction 

(FFMP), combines high-resolution radar rainfall observations with GIS technology to provide 

more accurate and precise flash flood detection. Flash floods, typically caused by intense, smallscale convective systems, are the leading cause of flood fatalities. The added precision provided 

by FFMP greatly reduces the area warned in flash flood warnings, making them more credible 

and leading to more effective and efficient public response, which ultimately saves lives. AHPS 

also provides opportunities to improve NOAA’s analysis and forecast capabilities related to 

coastal water conditions, through joint efforts with NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) and 

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). 

Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS). Our Nation faces a spectrum of 

growing water resources challenges which necessitate the provision of new and enhanced 

services. These challenges include: a) population growth and economic development are 

stressing water supplies and increasing vulnerability; b) a changing climate is impacting water 

availability and quality and increasing uncertainty; and, c) an aging water infrastructure is 

forcing critical, expensive decisions. 

In this era of growing challenges and reduced budgets, the collective capabilities of Federal 

water agencies need to be leveraged to inform and guide increasingly important water decisions. 

The provision of life-saving NWS forecasts and warnings and other important water resources 

information is dependent upon routine collaboration between Federal water agencies including 

NOAA’s NWS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS). To strengthen this relationship and enhance the quality of Federal water resources 

services, in May of 2011, NOAA’s NWS, the USACE, and the USGS entered into a 

memorandum of understanding to design, develop, and implement the Integrated Water 

Resources Science and Services (IWRSS) program. Consisting of a consortium of federal 

agencies with complementary missions in water science, observation, management and 

prediction, IWRSS is a new business model for interagency collaboration in the information age. 

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The IWRSS Consortium envisions an integrated national water modeling framework and 

information services framework. Together these frameworks will establish a common operating 

picture for water, improve water modeling and synthesis, and support the production of a 

comprehensive, seamless and consistent suite of high-resolution tree-top-to-bedrock, summit-tosea water resources products and information services. Toward this end, IWRSS applies a crosscutting, multi-disciplinary systems approach to address complex water problems collaboratively. 

The overarching objective of IWRSS is to enable and demonstrate a broad, integrative national 

water resources information system to serve as a reliable and authoritative means for adaptive 

water-related planning, preparedness and response activities. IWRSS builds on progress made 

under AHPS, CHPS and other NOAA water forecasting services. 

NWS Partnerships for Hydrometeorological Products and Services. Partnerships with a variety 

of Federal, state, and local agencies are critical to the NWS Hydrologic Services Program. For 

example, the NWS works very closely on water-related issues with many federal water agencies 

including: the USGS, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Land Management in the 

Department of the Interior; with the USACE in the Department of Defense; the Department of 

Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); and FEMA in the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS). Among these partnering activities are stream gaging, flood 

inundation mapping, river and water supply forecasting, and water management. For example, 

river stage and flow observations and stage discharge relationships provided by the USGS and 

reservoir operation information provided by the USACE, are critical to NWS warning and 

forecast operations for the Nation’s rivers. 

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

Within the NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) aircraft fleet, a NOAA 

AC-695A Commander 1000 (N45RF) is used annually to conduct important snow-pack surveys 

in the northern and western continental U.S., Alaska, and southern Canada. During these survey 

flights, the gamma radiation sensors aboard these aircraft measure the naturally occurring 

terrestrial radiation emitted from the ground to obtain snow water–equivalent estimates. The data 

are transmitted to the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) up to 

three times a day, and, after further processing, the data are distributed to NWS field offices 

within five minutes of receipt from the aircraft. These data are used by the NWS to forecast river 

levels and potential flood events, resulting from snowmelt water runoff. Hydroelectric power 

interests and other water supply managers also use the data to regulate water storage and 

delivery. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

NRCS Hydrometeorological Observations 

Since snowmelt provides 50-80 percent of the water supply in the Western United States, having 

information on snowpack is critical for water management. The Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) measures snowpack and collects hydrometeorological data in the 12 western 

states. The main source of hydrometeorological data collection and analysis for NRCS is the 

Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program (SSWSF) managed by the National Water 

and Climate Center. Through the SSWSF Program, NRCS conducts snow surveys at high 

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elevations in the mountainous West. The data collection system includes more than 950 active 

manual snow courses and more than 800 automated Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) monitoring 

stations. The NRCS collects data at the manual snow courses in cooperation and often with 

assistance from a number of different Federal, State, local, and private partners. These data, 

along with data from stream gages, major reservoirs, and climatological observation stations 

managed by other agencies, are merged into a hydroclimatic database that is used to produce 

real-time watershed analyses and water supply forecasts. This information is used at the farm 

level to manage irrigation, the municipal level to plan anticipated water supply, and at the 

international level as the basis for water management decisions under treaties with Canada and 

Mexico. 

The automated SNOTEL network mainly utilizes Meteor Burst technologies for transmitting 

data from remote sites to Master Stations located in Idaho and Utah. In Alaska, the network 

utilizes a satellite phone system to transmit data. The SNOTEL network provides near-real-time 

remote hydrometeorological data that significantly improve flood stage forecasts and the 

monitoring of other life-threatening snow-related events. The primary use of the Snow Survey 

data is the production of water supply forecasts for more than 700 western basins. The data are 

also used by irrigators, recreation users, researchers, Federal and state agencies, and a multitude 

of others. All SNOTEL data is sent hourly to the NWS to assist in forecasting flood events. 

SNOTEL information enables emergency management agencies to effectively mitigate drought 

and flood damages and to monitor and assess wildfire potential 

Water supply forecasts are produced bi-monthly each year from January through June in 

partnership with the NWS, as well as mid-month forecasts and daily guidance for some basins 

beginning in December. The NRCS furnishes snow measurements that are combined with 

advanced snow modeling and analysis provided by NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic 

Remote Sensing Center to support this joint NWS-NRCS effort. The purposes of water supply 

forecasts are to: (1) help irrigators make the most effective use of limited water supplies for 

agricultural production needs; (2) assist the Federal government in administering international 

water treaties with Canada and Mexico; (3) assist state governments in managing intrastate 

streams and interstate water compacts; (4) assist municipalities in planning the early 

management of anticipated water supplies and drought mitigation; (5) operate reservoirs to 

satisfy multiple use demands, including hydropower generation; (6) mitigate flood damages in 

levied areas and downstream from reservoirs; and (7) support fish and wildlife management 

activities associated with species protection legislation. 

The NRCS typically develops more than 10,000 seasonal water supply forecasts for 705 stream 

flow forecast locations in 12 western states. In addition, the program provides daily water supply 

guidance forecasts for 138 western basins. These products provide information for water 

managers to adapt to weather changes as they occur. The web link for this information is 

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/wsf/daily_forecasts.html. 

Historical snow survey data are valuable to climate change researchers and in developing reliable 

projections of climate change. It has been projected that changes to the hydrologic cycle in the 

western states, resulting from changes in snow pack, will increase the water supply challenges 

the states face. Monitoring data provides assistance to water managers at all levels to adapt to 

climate change impacts. 

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The SSWSF Program provides a variety of climate and water supply products that are used to 

assess drought in the West. These include SNOTEL snowpack and precipitation analyses in the 

mountains, water supply forecasts, and State Surface Water Supply Indexes (SWSI). These 

products are critical to the weekly production of the interagency Drought Monitor, a web-based 

report. Separate from the SSWSF and SNOTEL network, the NRCS also manages a cooperative 

nationwide network of 183 Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) sites in 40 states and U.S. 

territories. These SCAN sites monitor soil temperature and soil moisture, which support national 

drought monitoring, production agriculture, and climate change research. 

U.S Army Corps of Engineers 

In its civil operational activities, the Corps of Engineers (COE) uses a network of about 10,850 

land-based gages. About 55 percent of these sites collect meteorological data, 35 percent collect 

a combination of hydrologic and meteorological data, and 10 percent collect hydrologic or water 

quality data. The meteorological gages commonly measure precipitation and temperature. All 

data are used in the regulation of COE dams and other water projects, for flood control, 

navigation, hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, water quality, and recreation. Services 

performed by USGS vary by site and by year, and can include site visits, maintenance of 

equipment, replacement of damaged equipment, field measurements for verification of data and 

continuous monitoring of data results. About 90 percent of all COE sites provide real-time data 

via satellite, microwaves, meterbursts, landlines, or radio. Data from COE gage sites are 

available to NWS, and to other federal, state and local agencies. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Hydrometeorological Data Collection and Distribution 

The USGS’s Water Mission Area (WMA) collects streamflow, precipitation, water quality, 

ground-water level, and other water resources and climatological data as part of a national 

network and for a number of projects 

concerning rainfall-runoff, water quality, and 

hydrologic processes. Currently, the USGS 

collects continuous hydrologic and 

meteorological data at about 9,000 surface 

water sites, 2,700 ground water-level sites, 

and 1,500 water quality sites. Periodic records 

are collected at approximately 1,500 

additional surface water sites, 20,000 ground 

water sites, and 10,300 water quality sites. 

Precipitation records are collected at about 

800 sites. 

Data collected at most continuous-record 

USGS sites are transmitted from remote Data 

Collection Platforms to Wallops Island, 

Virginia, via a Geostationary Operational 

Environmental Satellite (GOES). From the 

The USGS has developed new rapidly deployable, mobile streamgages to provide short-term 

water-level data to critical areas lacking permanent streamgages. Image provided by USGS 

Office of Surface Water. 

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Wallops Island facility, data are rebroadcast to a domestic communication satellite (DOMSAT). 

Data are received from the DOMSAT by local readout ground stations (LRGS) procured by 

USGS. The USGS currently operates 21 LRGS which provide near-real-time data to the USGS’s 

computerized National Water Information System (NWIS). 

Near-real-time streamflow data and ancillary information are provided to NWS RFCs for river 

forecast points. Additional historical and real-time water resources data are available from the 

USGS database at NWIS web site (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/). During floods, these data 

are supplemented by additional flood flow measurements. For example, during the 2011 floods 

of the Missouri and Mississippi River Basins the USGS made over 1,200 streamflow 

measurements at more than 150 streamgages and installed Rapid Deployment Gages at 15 

locations, all in support of flood forecasting and/or emergency operations. During Hurricane 

Irene, the USGS deployed 260 temporary, mobile streamgages (storm-tide sensors) to observe 

water levels, resulting from storm-tide in coastal waters along the Atlantic Coast from South 

Carolina to Maine. The data are available at 

http://wim.usgs.gov/stormtidemapper/stormtidemapper.html# 

The USGS also collects precipitation samples at a number of sites to determine the atmospheric 

contribution of chemical constituent loads to runoff, and for defining the effect of atmospheric 

deposition on water quality and the aquatic environment. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

Hydrometeorological Testbed (HMT). The HMT is a national program aimed at accelerating the 

infusion of new technologies, models, and scientific results from the research community into 

daily forecasting operations of the NWS and its RFCs. Research at the HMT has focused on 

improving regional precipitation forecasts, particularly for heavy, flooding rains. Unlike typical 

research field projects, the HMT operates as an end-to-end demonstration project with 

forecasters and researchers joining forces in the operational setting. Through NOAA funding, the 

HMT will provide a foundation level of effort and infrastructure each year in a particular test 

region. It is expected that this foundation will be augmented by occasional ramping up to more 

intensive field programs that include additional participants and specialized instrumentation. 

The first regional implementation of the HMT, called HMT-West, targets California's floodvulnerable American River Basin. The two biggest water cycle challenges being addressed in 

HMT-West are QPFs and quantitative precipitation estimations (QPE). In 2010, HMT-West 

joined forces with the California Energy Commission and California universities to carry out the 

CALWATER study, which has two primary focus areas: the impact of atmospheric rivers 

(narrow regions of enhanced water vapor transport in winter storms) on California's precipitation 

and the impact of anthropogenic air pollution on the amount and distribution of precipitation. 

Both of these issues need to be addressed in reference to a changing climate. OAR’s Earth 

System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Global Systems Division (GSD) is the lead laboratory for 

HMT-West. ESRL/GSD and the ESRL Physical Sciences Division (PSD) are partnering to 

provide an HMT legacy capability in California through support from the California Department 

of Water Resources. 

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Beyond 2012, if there is sufficient funding within NOAA to support it, the HMT will spin up a 

second regional implementation in the southeastern United States. OAR’s National Severe 

Storms Laboratory (NSSL) will be providing multi-sensor (radar, gage, satellite), continentalscale, high-resolution analyses of Quantitative Precipitation Estimates in support of HMT. 

Storm-scale Hydrometeorology Research. Routine water level simulations that capture the 

complex interaction between waves, tides, river flows and storm surge have not been possible 

until now. NSSL has developed a prototype system that combines observations, weather and 

water models, and decision support tools to better forecast and prepare for inland and coastal 

floods. The National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL) Coastal-Inland Flood Observation and 

Warning (CI-FLOW) project uses the NSSL multi-sensor rainfall estimates to drive an NWSdistributed hydrologic model that predicts streamflow to help the NWS improve flash flood 

warnings. CI-FLOW is a major component of NOAA’s Integrated Water Forecasting program 

called the Coastal, Estuary Resource Information System (CERIS). In addition to streamflow 

prediction, streamflow data from predictive models are used to drive storm surge models from 

North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. We believe this system of 

coupled models, tested during the 2010 hurricane season and in Hurricane Irene in 2011, can be 

used not only for inundation studies of landfalling tropical systems, but also for land-use studies, 

algal bloom studies, and water quality assessments studies. 

Department of Agriculture 

Natural Resources Conservation Service 

Within the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program, there are a number of agency 

initiatives that support research and development in regards to system operations. These 

initiatives include model development, quality assurance tools, radio and telemetry development, 

SCAN support, and radio spectrum management. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conducts meteorological research to support 

licensing activities. Current research activities include updating the baseline data used in 

hydrometeorological reports (HMR), and updating the methods used to estimate the effects of 

extreme precipitation events. The HMR work has been extended to consider the influence of 

orographic features. In addition, work has been initiated to start looking at flooding from a 

probabilistic perspective. This work is prioritized for those areas of the United States where new 

nuclear power plants are proposed and will provide the design basis for flood protection systems. 

The work will be done in cooperation with the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of 

Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The focus of NRC research in these areas 

is to accurately assess the potential hazard to safe operation of nuclear facilities from extremely 

rare hydrometeorological events. 

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 Military Services 

MILITARY SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

For each of the military services with meteorological operational programs (U.S. Air Force, 

Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), the discussion below first describes that service’s 

operational organizations, followed by a description of the principal meteorological products and 

services provided by these organizations. 

U.S. Air Force 

Operational Organizations 

Air Force Weather (AFW). AFW enables Joint Warfighters to anticipate and exploit the 

weather...for air, ground, space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. AFW forces provide 

mission-tailored terrestrial and space environment observations, forecasts, and services to the Air 

Force, U.S. Army (USA), and a variety of U.S. government departments and agencies. 

AFW is functionally organized under the Director of Weather (AF/A3O-W), Directorate of 

Operations (AF/A3O), Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, Plans, and Requirements (AF/A3/A5), 

Headquarters Air Force. The Director of Weather oversees Air Force-wide training, organizing, 

and equipping of AFW organizations, to include the following functions: 

 Development of doctrine, policies, requirements, and standards for weather support for 

worldwide Air Force, Army, and Special Forces training and combat operations 

 Evaluation of weather support effectiveness for worldwide training and combat 

operations 

 Management of weather officer, enlisted, and civilian career fields 

 Development and implementation of mid- to long-range plans for the organization, 

equipment, manpower, and technology necessary to meet future Air Force, Army, Special 

Forces, and other DOD agency weather requirements 

 Advising Air Staff and subordinate headquarters weather functional managers, regarding 

manpower, career field management, personnel utilization, training, operations policy 

and procedures, and technology acquisition 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Military Services are those meteorological operations, services, and 

capabilities established to meet the unique requirements of military user commands and their 

component elements. Programs and services that are not uniquely military in nature are reported under 

another service category (e.g., Basic Services, Aviation Services [civilian], Surface Transportation 

Services, or Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services). 

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 Military Services 

 Advocating and fielding standardized weather equipment to support worldwide training 

and combat operations 

AFW operations provide a Total 

Force capability, employing over 

4,100 Active Duty (AD) and 

Reserve Component military and 

civilian personnel supporting Air 

Force and Army conventional 

and Special Operations Forces 

(SOF) worldwide. The majority 

of AFW personnel are focused 

on two distinct, yet related 

functions: characterizing the past, 

current, and future state of the 

natural environment, and 

exploiting environmental 

information to provide actionable 

environmental impacts 

information directly to decision 

makers. 

Air Force personnel in the weather career field act as “eyes forward” to collect, analyze, tailor, 

integrate and disseminate weather environmental information, including forecasts of future 

conditions, in support of military operations. Weather personnel must understand warfighter 

tactics, techniques, and procedures, and help decision makers mitigate weather impacts and take 

advantage of weather conditions. AFW personnel support Air Force, Army, Joint, and DOD 

conventional and special operations at various garrison and deployed locations worldwide. 

AFW personnel aligned with Army units directly support the G-2 intelligence centers and Amy 

Fire Support operations. Weather is a vital part of the intelligence estimate and is an essential 

element that supports the military rapid-response planning process. Weather personnel assigned 

to these commands provide expertise, products, and services that directly support the intelligence 

preparation of the battlespace (IPB) process by helping intelligence analysts to effectively 

evaluate, integrate, and synchronize weather effects for both enemy and friendly courses of 

action. 

The AFW support infrastructure is designed to readily deploy and operate in austere 

expeditionary environments. It is capable of providing sustained, comprehensive, and relevant 

weather support to all elements of an Air Expeditionary Force, as well as forward deployed air 

bases and stations of the establishment supporting that force. AFW is organized in a 3-tier 

structure to maximize capabilities that can be accomplished in the rear area via “reachback” 

technology. This minimizes forward presence on the battlefield, making a “light and lean” 

presence consistent with the overall U.S. Air Force (USAF) vision for contingency operations in 

the 21st century. 

                   Air Force Weather mission statement 

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 Military Services 

Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA).

AFWA is a Field Operating Agency, 

reporting to the USAF Director of Weather. 

It is the weather production center of the 

USAF in the first tier of the AFW 

organizational structure. The AFWA 

weather center delivers worldwide weather 

products to Air Force and Army Warfighters, 

unified commands, National Programs, and 

the National Command Authorities. AFWA 

supplies weather products, training tools, and 

fields equipment to USAF Operational 

Weather Squadrons (OWS) and Weather 

Flights and provides 24-hour technical 

assistance on all standard weather systems 

and equipment. AFWA builds and maintains 

the world's most comprehensive weather 

database of observation, forecast, 

climatological, and space weather products 

available on the World Wide Web. Per 

AFW’s 3-tier structure to support forward 

operations via reachback technology, 

AFWA’s 2nd Weather Squadron (2 WS) at 

Offutt AFB provides global coverage of 

forecaster-in-the-loop products to exploit 

environmental information necessary to effectively plan and conduct military operations at all 

levels of war, including providing dedicated support to the intelligence community, as well as 

backup for two national weather centers. 

 The 1st Weather Group aligns stateside weather operations with the USAF warfighting 

initiative overseeing the OWSs. The 1 WXG has three subordinate OWSs whose areas of 

responsibility are within the continental United States: the 15th, 25th, and 26th OWSs. 

They form the backbone of regionally focused, “reachback” weather operations for the 

continental United States, providing a variety of weather forecast products and support to 

units assigned to and/or deployed in their respective areas of responsibility. 

 The 2nd Weather Group delivers timely, relevant, and specialized terrestrial, space, and 

climatological global environmental intelligence to joint warfighters, U.S. DoD decision 

makers, national agencies, and allied nations for the planning and execution of missions 

across the complete spectrum of military operations through the operation, sustainment, 

and maintenance of AFW's $277 million strategic center computer complex, production 

network, and applications. 

Operational Weather Squadrons. Around the world, the OWSs are the second tier of the AFW 

organizational structure and provide continuous, complete environmental situational awareness. 

They are responsible for producing and disseminating mission-planning and mission-execution 

Dr. Fred Lewis, Director of Air Force Weather, was 

the keynote speaker for the 75th Air Force 

Weather Anniversary held at the AFWA 

headquarters building Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., 

August 2. The scope of attendees ranged from 

Army Air Corps meteorologists to current AFWA 

Airman. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Josh 

Plueger/Released)

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weather analyses, forecasts, and briefings for Air Force, Army, National Guard, and Reserve 

forces operating anywhere around the world.

 The 15th OWS's area of responsibility includes 120 installations/sites in a 22-state region 

of the northeastern United States. 

 The 17th OWS’s area of responsibility covers over 95-million square miles of the Pacific 

region including Australia, Korea and Japan. 

 The 21st OWS's area of responsibility includes Europe, Greenland, and most of Africa. 

 The 25th OWS's area of responsibility includes 68 installations/sites in an 11-state region 

of the western United States. 

 The 26th OWS's area of responsibility includes 70 installations/sites in a seven-state 

region of the south central United States. 

 The 28th OWS’s area of responsibility includes sites throughout the U. S. Central 

Command, including southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa. 

Weather Flights. Deployed in the field and focused on operational weather, USAF Weather 

Flights constitute the third tier of AFW and act as the prime interface with a USAF installation's 

flying and ground operations. Weather Flights are located at military installations around the 

world and are the “eyes forward” for the responsible OWS. 

Special Operations Weather. USAF special operations units provide limited forward weather 

observations in denied areas and transmit them to a Joint Special Operations task force or nextechelon weather element on an as-required basis. Their tailored weather information and 

knowledge enable planning, command decisions, and execution of SOF operations. USAF 

combat weather technicians assigned to SOF units are expected to know and keep current on the 

entire environment in the isolated locations to which their unit deploys.

USAF-Army Weather Organizations. Weather airmen aligned with Army units directly support 

the Army G-2 intelligence centers and Amy fire-support operations. Air Force weather 

organizations predict the impact weather will have on Army and joint operations, giving 

leadership at all levels the ability to adjust operational and tactical strategies helping to further 

mission success. Combat weather technicians and meteorologists assigned to support Army units 

are expected to forecast the weather anywhere their Army unit deploys. Army-trained weather 

personnel can parachute behind enemy lines and travel with a small platoon of soldiers, 

providing on-the-scene weather information for a variety of missions.

Air Force Operational Climatology. The 14th Weather Squadron (14 WS) is stationed in 

Asheville, North Carolina, where it is co-located with the National Climatic Data Center, one of 

the environmental data centers under The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 

(NOAA's) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). The 14 

WS mission is to support DoD climatological requirements for engineering, planning, and 

operations to maximize combat effectiveness. For more information on the 14th Weather 

Squadron and the National Climatic Data Center, see the Climate Services section of this Federal 

Plan. 

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Space Weather Operations. AFW space weather forecasters provide space weather analyses, 

forecasts, and alert notification for all DOD agencies and U.S. Government systems. With 

observatories in Australia, Italy, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Hawaii, USAF space weather 

technicians maintain a continuous observational watch on the Sun, which can emit 

electromagnetic energy and electrically charged particles capable of causing disturbances in the 

near-Earth environment and disrupting satellite operations and satellite-based communications. 

The mission of the AFW solar observatories is to monitor solar flares, noise storms, and other 

releases of energy from the Sun and, when necessary, notify military and civilian organizations 

concerned with space weather, power, and communications in countries throughout the world. 

For further discussion of the complementary roles of AFW space weather operations and the 

National Weather Service’s (NWS) Space Weather Prediction Center, see the section on Space 

Weather Services. 

AFW Reserve Component. The Reserve Component of AFW includes airmen in both the Air 

Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and the Air National Guard (ANG). AFW continues to 

integrate these forces to more closely align with active duty weather force operations. AFRC 

weather personnel augment the active duty force at all three tiers. In some cases, the AFRC 

provides very unique weather-related services not duplicated in the active duty force, such as 

AFRC’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53 WRS) (see “AFRC Hurricane Hunters,” 

below) and the ANG’s Weather Readiness Training Center. 

To augment AD OWS operations, AFRC organized two operational weather flights, each staffed 

by AFRC weather personnel, capable of augmenting an OWS either in the CONUS or overseas. 

Additional AFR weather personnel serve as individual mobilization augmentees assigned to 

various active AF weather organizations at all echelons, typically in staff, forecasting, or 

scientific roles. There are weather traditional reservists working with an AFRC Remotely Piloted 

Aircraft (RPA) unit. There are also AFR weather personnel in Air Reserve Technician positions, 

i.e., combined full-time Civil Service/AFR military positions, employed by HQ AFRC as a staff 

weather officer and by the 53rd WRS as aerial reconnaissance weather officers. Lastly, AFRC 

civil service and contract weather personnel provide weather services at AFRC-operated bases in 

the CONUS. 

The ANG traditional program consists of 27 numbered weather flights, ranging in size from 13 

to 25 personnel, who meet monthly to train for their wartime mission. These flights provide 

weather support to ANG and Army National Guard units. Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained 

ANG wings also have up to four traditional weather positions to provide weather operations for 

each wing’s flying mission. In addition, there are traditional weather positions in two ANG 

Special Tactics Squadrons (AF Special Operations Command), and four ANG RPA units (e.g., 

Predator). The ANG also has seven contract and four civil service locations where they are 

responsible for providing peacetime weather support to airfield operations. 

USAF Products and Services 

Satellite Services. AFW operates a satellite data processing center, ingesting and storing 

worldwide meteorological satellite (METSAT) data. The Defense Meteorological Satellite 

Program (DMSP), which provides cloud, upper air, and space environmental data, is a vital 

source of global weather data used to support combat operations and has been collecting weather 

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data for U.S. military operations for more than five decades. Onboard sensors provide AFW and 

the Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) with visible, 

infrared, and microwave imagery, plus temperature and moisture sounding data. The DMSP also 

supplies direct, real-time readouts of regional imagery and mission-sensor data to DOD landbased and shipboard terminals located worldwide. 

There are two primary operational DMSP satellites in polar orbit at about 450 nautical miles 

(nominal) at all times. The primary weather sensor on DMSP is the Operational Linescan 

System, which provides continuous visual and infrared imagery of cloud cover over an area 

1,600 nautical miles wide. Worldwide coverage of weather features is accomplished every 12 

hours providing essential data over data-sparse or data-denied areas. Additional satellite sensors 

measure atmospheric vertical profiles of moisture and temperature. Military weather forecasters 

can detect developing patterns of weather and track existing weather systems over remote areas, 

including the presence of severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, and typhoons. 

In addition to DMSP polar-orbiting data, AFW receives stored data from NOAA’s Polar-orbiting 

Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) constellation and real-time high-resolution data 

from NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) East and West; 

European METSAT (EUMETSAT) -7, -8, and -9 geostationary satellites, and Meteorological 

Operational Polar (METOP) orbiters; as well as the Japanese Multifunctional Transport Satellite 

(MTSAT). (AFWA currently receives data from the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration’s (NASA) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Tropical 

Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Aqua Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-E 

(AMSR-E); NOAA’s Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC); and NOAA’s Space 

Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). 

Space Launch Support. USAF meteorological support 

for space launches is discussed in the Other Specialized 

Services section. 

Air and Space Natural Environment Modeling and 

Simulation. The Air Force Director of Weather carries 

out the DOD Air and Space Natural Environment 

Modeling and Simulation Executive Agent (ASNE 

MSEA) responsibilities of managing, coordinating, and 

implementing all aspects of modeling and simulation, 

relating to the Air and Space Natural Environment 

domain to include, but not limited to, planning, 

programming, monitoring, and reporting across all DOD 

components in accordance with the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics 

Memorandum to the Secretary of the Air Force, 

designating the Department of the Air Force as the 

MSEA for air and space natural environment representations. The DOD ASNE MSEA ensures 

DOD communities who use simulations for their training, acquisition, testing, planning, 

experimentation, and analysis have the right tools, infrastructure, and databases necessary to 

represent the air and space natural environment and its effects. 

DMSP captures aurora borealis, over 

the Midwest. The aurora was pushed 

toward the equator by a November 4, 

2003 geomagnetic storm. Source: 

AFWA Website. 

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AFRC Hurricane Hunters. The AFRC’s 53 WRS, also 

known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” provides another 

means of collecting vital meteorological data, especially 

in and around tropical cyclones. Their specially equipped 

WC-130J aircraft collect temperature, moisture, wind, 

pressure, and visually observed information at the aircraft 

location as well as vertical profiles of the atmosphere 

collected by dropsondes. Hurricane Hunter aircraft 

penetrate the eyes of tropical cyclones to provide the 

National Hurricane Center very accurate center fix 

locations as well as other meteorological parameters, 

including sea level pressure. In addition to tropical 

cyclone reconnaissance, the 53 WRS collects 

meteorological information to improve wintertime West 

Coast forecasts and to support scientific field programs 

when possible. 

Air Force Aviation Weather Support. AFWA’s 1st Weather Group (1 WXG) has three 

subordinate CONUS OWSs which form the backbone of CONUS regionally focused, 

“reachback” weather operations, providing a variety of weather forecast products and support to 

units assigned to and/or deployed into their respective Areas of Responsibility (AORs). These 

three OWSs along with the USAFE and PACAF OWSs, the 21th OWS and the 17th OWS 

respectively, provide operational weather support and resource protection for personnel and 

military installations in their respective AORs. The 28th OWS provides focused “reachback” 

weather operations in support of Air Force Central Command (AFCENT) operations in 

Southwest Asia. Operational support to the USAF, Army, Navy, Marine, Guard, Reserve and 

regional Combatant Commanders includes graphical analyses, aviation terminal aerodrome 

forecasts, severe weather watches/warnings and advisories, and mission execution forecasts, 

such as aviation hazards and enroute and target forecasts. Additionally, the OWSs provide flight 

weather briefings to aircrews, operating within their AOR without home station support or as 

requested by base or post-level weather forces. The 15th OWS, located at Scott AFB, IL, 

provides short-term backup services for the National Weather Services’ Storm Prediction Center 

(SPC) and Aviation Weather Center (AWC). In the event of an extended or catastrophic outage 

at either SPC or AWC, essential staff would relocate to the AFWA facility at Offutt AFB, NE, 

where system and communications 

infrastructure exists to support relocation 

backup of these critical national missions. At 

AF bases and Army posts, AFW forces focus on 

their warfighter’s mission requirements. These 

units provide and disseminate observations and 

develop tailored mission execution forecasts 

based on centrally produced guidance. For AF 

operations, these weather professionals are 

normally assigned to a flight under an 

operations support squadron of an AF flying 

The sun tries to break through the 

thick clouds surrounding the WC130J aircraft as it penetrates Tropical 

Storm Lee Sept. 2. The 53rd Weather 

Reconnaissance Squadron 

“Hurricane Hunters,” were gathering 

atmospheric data to relay to the 

National Hurricane Center for their 

forecast models. (U.S. Air Force 

photo by Staff Sgt. Valerie Smock)

Air Force Operational Weather Squadron (OWS) 

areas of responsibility (AORs) overlaid on 

geographic combatant commander AORs. 

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wing; however, individuals from the weather flight are integrated into flying squadron mission 

planning and execution processes. For Army operations, the Battlefield Weather Airmen 

professionals are normally assigned to combat weather teams at all levels of Army support. The 

weather airmen are integrated into all aspects of Army operations. In this capacity, weather 

forces supporting AF and Army aviation operations infuse critical weather information at key 

points in the decision cycle to help aircrews maximize wartime capabilities, enhance flight 

safety, and optimize training effectiveness. 

Volcanic Ash Surveillance and Analysis. One of the roles of the 2nd Weather Group at AFWA 

is to provide volcanic ash surveillance and analysis for DOD aviation operations worldwide. 

Analysts continuously monitor all active volcanoes, generating more than 4,000 bulletins per 

year. Tailored satellite imagery, graphical ash plume forecast, and text bulletins provide vital 

information needed to mitigate airborne volcanic ash as a threat to flight safety. The 2nd Weather 

Group also provides critical backup for NOAA’s Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. 

Weather Specialty Teams. AFW experts are assigned to weather specialty teams in air and space 

operations centers. This crosscutting team integrates environmental information at key decision 

points of air and space operations planning, execution, and assessment. Armed with this 

information, decisionmakers can balance operational risks against mission need to optimize 

timing, tactics, target and weapons selection, and other factors affecting air and space operations. 

Air Force Aviation Weather Products and Services 

NextGen Development. AFW continues active collaboration with the Next Generation Air 

Transportation System (NextGen) program, which is described more fully in the Aviation 

Weather Services section of this Federal Plan. Experiences gained through implementation of 

DOD’s Joint METOC Data Base and machine-to-machine data services used by the Air Force’s 

primary automated mission planning systems are providing valuable lessons learned for 

NextGen’s development. AFW’s AFWA Ensemble Prediction System is also providing valuable 

path-finding insight into the utility and delivery of probabilistic aviation impacts that is a 

requirement of NextGen’s 4-D data cube. 

Weather System Upgrades. In FY 2013, AFW will continue to upgrade weather systems and 

processes that support all DOD aviation. The continued fielding of the Joint Environmental 

Toolkit and upgraded surface weather sensors will produce more accurate and timely weather 

observation and forecast products. 

U.S. Army 

USA Weather Support Structure 

Weather support within the Army is a mix of Army and Air Force personnel and equipment in 

accordance with a USA-USAF agreement: (Army Regulation [AR] 115-10/Air Force Instruction 

[AFI] 15-157 (IP), Weather Support for the U.S. Army, 6 January 2010). This interservice 

regulation describes the responsibilities of USAF support components and of the Army 

Commands and Army Service Component Commands (ASCC) for providing weather support. 

Under this agreement, the USAF provides the Army with the necessary labor and unique tactical 

and fixed weather equipment to meet Army tactical, installation, and airfield support 

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requirements for both active and reserve components. The USAF assigns AFW personnel to 

provide direct and indirect weather support to the Army Commands, ASCCs, and installations. 

The Army provides assigned Air Force personnel the equipment necessary to perform their 

Army support mission in the tactical environment. The Army also provides facilities and host 

services to Air Force personnel assigned to Army installations. 

Air Force Weather personnel provide installation, garrison, and tactical weather support on a 

daily basis to the U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. 

Army Special Operations Command, Eighth U.S. Army, and the U.S. Army Training and 

Doctrine Command (TRADOC). The Army provides operational weather support to Army 

research development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) ranges, centers, and other research 

facilities using the Army Test and Evaluation Command’s Meteorological Teams and USA 

Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) contractors. SMDC provides weather support to 

the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll through a 

Meteorological Environmental Test Support contractor. 

Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA.) The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff 

(ODCS), G-2, establishes weather policy within the Army, coordinates on AF weather policy 

issues with the Air Force Director of Weather (HQ USAF/A3/5), submits validated Army 

weather requirements and priorities to the HQ USAF/A3/5, coordinates with the AF on ArmyAF and Joint Service weather operational concepts and doctrine, serves as the Army staff lead 

for meteorological satellite capabilities and issues, and reviews and coordinates Army- related 

support issues with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Department of the 

AF, other Services, HQDA staffs, ACOMs, DRUs, ASCCs and other Federal agencies. HQDA, 

ODCS, G-2, employs two civilian meteorologists to formulate weather policy and work 

meteorological issues for the Army Staff. 

The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, validates and prioritizes weather support 

requirements and programs to meet Army requirements, sets priorities for weather support for 

Army training and contingencies, coordinates with the HQ USAF/A3/5 on Army weather 

program and resource issues, Army Guard and Reserve weather issues, and Army installation 

weather support requirements. 

U. S. Army North (USARNORTH). USARNORTH employs one civilian meteorologist as an 

advisor to the Commander, USARNORTH on all issues involving meteorology, oceanography, 

and space weather. This individual applies meteorological and oceanographic policies and 

objectives to cover all USARNORTH mission requirements, and coordinates on USARNORTH 

exercise and contingency plans. 

Training and Doctrine Command. Headquarters, TRADOC, is responsible for leading the USA 

in development of USA-USAF inter-Service weather operations, services concepts, and doctrine 

required to conduct Army operations. TRADOC develops and manages USA weather training 

programs, documents standard USA equipment for use by AFW personnel in the Table of 

Organization and Equipment (TOE), and recommends modifications to the TOE and Common 

Table of Allowances to DCS, G-3/5/7 for validation. TRADOC processes tactical Army weather 

support requirements, represents the Army’s warfighting functions by determining needed 

weather capabilities and processing weather requirements found in Joint and USA conceptual 

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documents and originating from TRADOC centers and schools. TRADOC collects and 

processes weather requirements from TRADOC schools/centers, USA Medical Command, and 

USA Corps of Engineers (USACE). It collaborates with HQDA and Headquarters, USAF, to 

recommend solutions to satisfy those requirements by processing tactical USA weather support 

requirements through the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) 

process. 

Key mission areas for the next few years will be to assist the USAF with development and 

implementation of a new weather support concept to meet the needs of the USA’s modular force, 

including brigade combat teams; to update weather support doctrine, policy, organization, and 

concepts; update tactics, techniques, and procedures; ensure weather effects to USA operations 

are documented and communicated to soldiers and AFW support personnel; and ensure USA 

weather support processes and procedures are trained across the TRADOC schools and centers. 

These mission areas are accomplished in coordination with the USAF SWOs and USA and 

USAF civilians assigned within TRADOC. 

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence. The U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence 

(USAICoE) is the functional proponent for USA tactical weather support. It represents the USA 

warfighter by processing weather support requirements and developing solutions to satisfy those 

requirements when they are the responsibility of the USA. The USAICoE employs one 

Department of the Army Civilian (DAC) to head the Weather Proponent Office. This DAC leads 

USAICoE weather proponent efforts in the JCIDS process, and in doctrine, organization, 

training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) work. This JCIDS 

and DOTMLPF work occurs within USAICoE and in conjunction with other USA Centers of 

Excellence and Army research and experimentation organizations. 

U.S. Army Products and Services 

U.S. Army Artillery. The Meteorological Measurement Set-Profiler (MMS-P) is a major 

improvement over the legacy MMS, AN/TMQ-41. The MMS-P design supports the new 

generation of indirect fire artillery weapons. The system is housed in a Standard Integrated 

Command Post Shelter (SICPS)/Command Post Platform (CPP), transported on a High Mobility 

Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, and operated by a crew of two soldiers. The MMS-P provides 

highly accurate meteorological (MET) data to adjust artillery fire and achieve first round hits and 

fires for effect. The MMS-P uses the MM5 Mesoscale Meteorological Model to assimilate data 

from a variety of sources to provide the best meteorological messages to the user in a timely 

fashion. An operator interface, in conjunction with the message generation and formatting 

software, facilitates communication between the MMS-P and all other systems that require 

interoperability with the MMS-P. Existing systems are scheduled to be replaced by the next 

generation of Profiler (Computer Meteorological Data-Profiler [CMD-P]) beginning in FY 2013. 

The CMD-P is designed to reduce the logistics footprint to a laptop configuration that is located 

in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC), thus eliminating the SICPS/CPP, support vehicle, and 

crew. Additionally, the local ground sensor will be removed to further reduce the logistical 

footprint, and the system interface with the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System will 

be a local area network (LAN) connection in the TOC. The system will no longer require the 

Global Broadcast Service (GBS) receiver suite as part of the profiler system but will rely on the 

GBS connection from the TOC LAN. The system software will be capable of providing Field 

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Artillery Computer MET and Gridded MET messages on demand with or without an operator inthe-loop. The CMD-P underwent developmental and operational testing in FY 2012. Fielding is 

planned to begin in FY 2013. 

Distributed Common Ground System–Army Weather Services. The Distributed Common 

Ground System–Army (DCGS-A) is the Army’s premier intelligence, surveillance, and 

reconnaissance (ISR) enterprise for the analysis and processing, exploitation, and dissemination 

of information and intelligence data, including weather, across all echelons. It is the Army 

component of the DoD Distributed Common Ground/Surface System and interoperable with 

Army, Joint, and Coalition Mission Command systems. DCGS-A weather services enable the 

Staff Weather Officer and intelligence operators to analyze and mitigate weather effects on 

intelligence operations, target development, and course of action selection. DCGS-A provides 

the actionable weather intelligence in support of tactical Army operations and resources 

protection. DCGS-A weather applications take advantage of Air Force weather products such as 

the Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET) and the Air Force Weather Web Service (AFW-WEBS) 

through reachback communications to supplement forward-based applications like the Integrated 

Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) and Weather Running Estimate (WRE). IWEDA 

allows Warfighters to display the effects of weather phenomena on weapon systems, personnel, 

and operations for mission planning. DCGS-A will utilize Air Force weather products available 

through reachback to the AF OWS and AFWA, including Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) 

overlays, alphanumerics, metsat imagery and other products. The DCGS-A uses the latest 

Ozone/Widget and DCGS Integrated Backbone (DIB) technologies to distribute weather 

products to Mission Command and other users on the Enterprise. 

U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC). ATEC is responsible for providing 

operational meteorological support to USA RDT&E. Under responsibilities established in AR 

115-10/ AFI 15-157 (IP), ATEC meteorological units provide meteorological data collection and 

analysis, consultation, and weather forecast and warning services to support USA and other 

DOD RDT&E activities at eight USA installations. 

The Chief of the Meteorology Division at Dugway Proving Ground's West Desert Test Center 

serves as the Program Manager for Meteorological Support to USA RDT&E. Specialized 

services provided by the division include: (1) technical assistance to the ATEC operational 

meteorological teams/branches; (2) system administration support to the 4DWX system 

components and network connections at each ATEC test center; (3) atmospheric model 

verification and validation, including algorithm evaluation and the generation of validation data 

sets; and (4) technical assistance to the DOD chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and 

explosive (CBRNE) defense modeling community in the development of new CBRNE hazard 

assessment models. Division employees also serve on various national and international 

committees, addressing issues related to meteorological measurements, atmospheric dispersion 

modeling, CBRNE hazard assessment, and air quality. 

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic 

Missile Defense Test Site. A subcommand of SMDC provides operational support to the Ronald 

Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, including support for range activities (local and 

remote missile launches), missile weapons readiness testing, aviation and marine operations, and 

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emergency operations. For further description of this support service, see “Other Specialized 

Services” in Section 2. 

Artillery Meteorological Education and Training. The U.S. Army Field Artillery School, Fort 

Sill, Oklahoma, is the proponent for upper air meteorological support to the Army and home of 

the Field Artillery Meteorology Course. The AN/TMQ-52A/B MMS-P is a suite of 

meteorological sensors and associated software/models which will provide the field artillery with 

current and/or expected weather conditions at a point where the weapon munitions is expected to 

engage a target (Target Area Met). 

U.S. Navy 

Operational Organizations 

Oceanographer of the Navy. The Oceanographer of the Navy (OPNAV N2/N6E) is the Chief of 

Naval Operations’ (CNO) principal advisor on plans, requirements, resources, programs, and 

policies for Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC), Maritime Domain Awareness, Navy 

Space, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). As the Oceanographer and Navigator of the 

Navy, he serves as the focal point for matters related to the Naval Oceanography enterprise 

(NOe) and related marine science fields. He represents the Commander Naval Meteorology and 

Oceanography Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM or CNMOC) and the Naval Oceanography 

Operations Command (NOOC), and his staff works closely with the U.S. Fleet Forces Command 

(USFF), Pacific Command (USPACOM), and the Office of Naval Research to ensure the proper 

resources are available to meet mission requirements. As the functional manager for Geospatial 

Information and Services (GI&S), he works within the National System for GeospatialIntelligence (NSG) and liaises with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), 

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). He 

acts as Naval Deputy to the NOAA Administrator and represents the Naval Oceanography 

Program in interagency and international forums, including the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization (NATO) and the World 

Meteorological Organization (WMO). He 

ensures Navy and Marine Corps equities 

regarding remote sensing from space and 

collection through manned 

and unmanned vehicles to effectively meet 

warfighter needs for Battlespace Awareness 

and Knowledge Superiority. 

The Oceanographer also serves as the 

Navigator of the Navy and provides for the 

standardization of METOC, maritime 

geospatial information, astrometric and 

precise-time models, databases, and 

environmental predictive techniques. He 

coordinates NOe, Navigation Policy, and 

architectures with Navy and DoD science 

and technology and RDT&E, along with 

Organization of the Deputy, Chief of Naval 

Operations (DCNO) for Information Dominance 

(OPNAV N2N6),showing placement of the 

Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, as the 

Director, Oceanography, Space, and Maritime 

Domain Awareness (MDA). 

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related efforts in civilian agencies and develops means for transition from research to operational 

applications. Information is no longer limited to an enabling role. Navy’s Information 

Dominance initiative serves to consolidate and integrate information-related METOC activities 

and initiatives outlined in the Naval Oceanography - 2025 document, and Naval Oceanography’s 

Battlespace on Demand (BonD) concept. This integrated approach can provide the Fleet with 

more timely dissemination of critical information about the physical environment and its impacts on 

platforms, sensors, weapons, and personnel. Bringing to bear a unique combination of scientific, 

and engineering excellence, warfighting experience, and engagement in a wide range of 

partnerships, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography support is integral to Navy, Marine Corps, 

and Joint Force capabilities to deter or win regional conflicts or major wars and conduct 

peacetime operations, including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR). 

Task Force Climate Change. In May 2009, the Chief of Naval Operations appointed the 

Oceanographer of the Navy to head the Task Force Climate Change (TFCC). The TFCC 

addresses emerging Navy needs and develops comprehensive approaches, regarding Arctic and 

global climate change to guide future Navy public, policy, and strategy discussions. The 

Oceanographer of the Navy serves as Director of TFCC and develops comprehensive approaches 

regarding the Arctic and global climate change to guide future Navy public, policy, and strategy 

discussions. TFCC recommends policy, strategy, and investments for the Navy regarding the 

Arctic and climate change that are consistent with existing national, joint, and naval guidance, 

including National Security Presidential Directive/ Homeland Security Presidential Directive 

(NSPD-66/HSPD-25), Joint Vision 2020, Sea Power 21, a Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century 

Seapower, Naval Operations Concept 21, The U.S. Navy’s Vision for Information Dominance, 

Naval Oceanography 2025, and the Quadrennial Defense Review. Recent TFCC 

accomplishments include execution of the Navy's Arctic Roadmap and Climate Change 

Roadmap. Action items completed or underway include an Arctic Environmental Assessment, 

Arctic Capabilities-Based Assessment, Installation Vulnerability Assessment, and Identification 

of Arctic and Global Climate Change Research Needs. The Arctic and climate change 

Roadmaps provide all encompassing, chronological, science-based guidance for future Navy 

action from now through 2040. 

Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography 

Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM) is a third echelon command, reporting to USFF, and 

serves as the operational arm of the NOe. COMNAVMETOCCOM's assets are globally 

distributed at shore facilities in fleet concentration areas and larger production centers in the U.S. 

COMNAVMETOCCOM operates through the Naval Oceanography Operations Command 

(NAVOCEANOPSCOM) colocated at the Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi. 

Naval METOC personnel (Navy and Marine Corps) are required to provide intelligence 

preparation of the operational environment (IPOE) for operational decision makers by assessing 

the impact of atmospheric and oceanographic phenomena on platforms, sensors, and weapon 

systems. Navy and Marine Corp METOC personnel provide for safety of flight and navigation in 

support of naval, joint, and combined forces operating on and in the world’s oceans. 

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COMNAVMETOCCOM forces also deploy as 

detachment teams to larger ships (aircraft 

carriers, amphibious ships, and command and 

control ships) as well as to forward operating 

areas as requested. COMNAVMETOCCOM is 

focused on providing critical environmental 

knowledge to the war fighting disciplines of 

Anti-Submarine Warfare; Naval Special 

Warfare; Mine Warfare; Intelligence, 

Surveillance and Reconnaissance; and Fleet 

Operations (Strike and Expeditionary), as well 

as to the support areas of Maritime Operations, 

Aviation Operations, Navigation, Precise Time, 

and Astrometry. 

Major activities and additional subordinates 

within the command include: 

 NAVOCEANOPSCOM, Stennis Space 

Center, MS 

 Fleet Weather Center Norfolk and Fleet Weather Center San Diego with subordinate 

units and detachments 

 Naval Special Warfare Oceanography Center in San Diego, CA, (with components and 

detachments in Stuttgart, Germany, Norfolk, and Pearl Harbor) 

 Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare Centers in Yokosuka, Japan, and Stennis 

Space Center, MS (with subordinate detachments) 

 Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), Stennis Space Center, MS 

 Fleet Survey Team, Stennis Space Center, MS 

 Naval Ice Center, Suitland, MD 

 Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), Monterey, CA 

 USNO, Washington, DC 

 Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Professional Development Center, Gulfport, MS, 

with detachments in Norfolk, VA; San Diego, CA; Pearl Harbor, HI; and Yokosuka, 

Japan 

Naval Oceanography Operations Command. NAVOCEANOPSCOM is an echelon four 

command that coordinates and manages efforts among field activities under the Operational 

Oceanography enterprise to optimize warfighting resources, support safe operations, and enhance 

decision superiority within the battlespace through superior understanding and exploitation of the 

environment. The Command encompasses warfighting and enabling directorates for: Aviation 

Operations, Maritime Operations, Fleet Operations, Precise Time and Astronomy, Navigation, 

ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), Mine Warfare, Naval Special Warfare, and 

The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography 

Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM), located 

at Stennis Space Center, MS, is the 

organization for operational Meteorology 

and Oceanography (METOC) reporting to 

U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF), 

headquarterd in Norfolk, VA. 

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Anti-Submarine Warfare. Each directorate 

determines how that directorate’s services are 

delivered globally. Each directorate reports to a 

single Navy Captain who functions as Naval 

Oceanography’s Director of Operational 

Oceanography (DOO). 

The command’s operational model is knowledgecentric, based on deploying small and agile 

specialized teams forward with 24/7 reach back to 

major production centers for data and expertise 

and to operational mission-specific centers of 

excellence. Emphasis is placed on standardizing 

service delivery models for each directorate, value 

added automation, and enabling decision 

superiority (i.e. turning forecasts into decisions). 

The operations support portion of USN/USMC FY 

2012 budget funds the day-to-day environmental 

support to the Department of Defense, the Active 

and Reserve Components of the Navy and Marine 

Corps, ten unified commands, and other agencies 

as directed by the Chief of Naval Operations. 

Over 1,228 military and civilian personnel conduct 

these activities at more than 22 locations worldwide.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and 

Oceanography Center. FNMOC, which is 

a echelon four activity reporting to 

CNMOC, is the NOe production center for 

meteorology. This center plays a 

significant role in the national capability 

for operational weather and ocean 

prediction by implementing, operating, 

maintaining, and improving Numerical 

Weather Production (NWP) systems, 

including global and regional METOC 

models that extend from the top of the 

atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean. 

Through close collaboration with 

NAVOCEANO, FNMOC is also a key 

component in the Navy’s operational 

weather and ocean prediction program. 

This program provides information that 

helps give Naval forces an asymmetric 

advantage in speed, access, and persistence 

in any combat operation. 

Navy civilian Cecelia Spiering, a biologist at the 

Naval Oceanographic Office, takes an aliquot of 

suspended sediment for grain size analysis. Naval 

Oceanographic Office scientists analyze the physical, 

chemical, acoustic, and engineering properties of the 

ocean bottom sediment samples and apply the 

results to satisfy Navy requirements. (U.S. Navy 

photo by Public Affairs Specialist Shannon M. 

Breland). 

Rear Admiral Jonathan White assumed duties as 

Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy on 15 

June 2012. Shown here (second from left), as 

Commander Naval Oceanography and Meteorology 

opening the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, VA. 

The Fleet METOC Watch floor combines and 

synchronizes maritime and aviation meteorological 

operations to allow for greater operational 

capability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass 

Communication Specialist 3rd Class William 

Jamieson. 

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Naval Oceanographic Office. NAVOCEANO is the NOe’s production center for oceanography. 

Since atmospheric conditions are inherently coupled to oceanographic conditions, the Navy’s 

program in meteorology is closely linked with oceanography, which is the focus of the 

NAVOCEANO, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. NAVOCEANO’s primary responsibilities 

include the collection, processing, and distribution of oceanographic, hydrographic, and other 

geophysical data and products. NAVOCEANO is responsible for the administration of a fleet of 

six ocean-class hydrographic survey vessels and data from both aviation assets and spacecraft . 

United States Naval Observatory. USNO is the production center for precise time and 

astrometry. It is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the country, established in 1830 as the 

Depot of Charts and Instruments. Today, USNO is the national authority on Precise Time and 

Astrometry and distributes earth orientation parameters and other astronomical data required for 

accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy. USNO serves as the official source of time for 

the DOD and the standard of time for the United States. The atomic clock timescale of the 

observatory is based on an ensemble of cesium-beam frequency standards and hydrogen masers. 

USNO performs an essential scientific role for the United States, the Navy, and the DOD, as its 

mission includes determining the positions and motions of the Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars, 

and other celestial objects; providing astronomical data; determining precise time; measuring the 

Earth’s rotation; and maintaining the Master Clock for the United States. USNO astronomers 

formulate theories and conduct relevant research necessary to improve these mission goals. 

These astronomical and timing data, essential for accurate navigation and the support of 

communication on Earth and in space, are vital to the Navy and the DOD. They are also used 

extensively by other government agencies and the public at large. 

Navy Products and Services 

Surface Transportation Operations. Dangerous 

weather and safe navigation are the top two Fleet 

concerns. The Naval Meteorology and 

Oceanography Command is actively engaged 

with Fleet forces to provide valuable physical 

environmental knowledge to aid warfighting 

decision making. Personnel are integrated with 

the Fleet, where they provide in situ 

observations, run tactical decision aids, and 

interpret environmental data to provide decision 

support to Fleet commanders. Naval 

oceanography enables the safety, speed, and 

operational effectiveness of the Fleet, by 

illuminating the risks and opportunities posed by 

present and future states of the natural 

environment. 

The onboard personnel work with reach-back 

cells to analyze and forecast environmental 

conditions from launch point to target and to 

determine optimum Fleet maneuvers, ingress and 

Indian Ocean (May 8, 2011) Sailors assigned 

to Destroyer Squadron One, disseminate 

satellite weather data from the meteorological 

center aboard the NIMITZ Class aircraft carrier 

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). CVN 70 and 

Carrier Air Wing Seventeen are underway in 

the Western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo 

by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class 

Christopher K. Hwang). 

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egress routes, amphibious landing points and times, flight operations, weapons load-outs, and 

target selection. 

Highly trained meteorology and oceanography specialists are deployed to support planning and 

operations. Reach-back teams work with onboard personnel to refine data, develop models, 

conduct forecast analyses, and deliver high-quality information to Fleet commands. 

Tailored Strike Group Oceanography Team (SGOT) detachments train, work-up, and deploy 

with carrier and expeditionary strike groups through each phase of the Fleet Readiness Training 

Program. Each SGOT detachment includes a team who forecast for the aircraft carriers, 

amphibious assault ships, and other vessels making up the strike group. In addition to flight deck 

weather, they forecast en route and target area METOC conditions which may vary greatly, 

considering the tremendous reach of Naval Aviation along the world’s dynamic coastlines. 

Maritime Weather Operations. The Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, VA supports operations 

for Commander Second Fleet (North Atlantic); Commander, Fourth Fleet (Caribbean Sea and 

South Atlantic); Commander, Sixth Fleet (Mediterranean Sea), and Arctic fleet operations. 

The Fleet Weather Center in San Diego, CA supports operations for the Commander, Third Fleet 

(East Pacific); Commander, Fifth Fleet (Arabian Sea and Suez Canal); Commander, Seventh 

Fleet (West and Central Pacific) areas of responsibilities. 

 

Navy meteorologists and forecasters provide Optimum Track Ship Routing (OTSR) and weather 

forecasts to support transoceanic voyages and coastal operations. OTSR services include:

 Hazardous ocean and weather advisories and divert recommendations to ship 

Commanding Officers and Masters at sea 

 Sortie recommendations for potentially damaging weather conditions in port 

 Preliminary climatologic outlooks for transit and mission planning 

 Routine ship weather forecasts and aviation weather forecasts for ship-based helicopters, 

to include high wind and seas warnings and local area warnings for Fleet Concentration 

Areas 

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The JTWC, established by the U.S. Pacific Command, 

is jointly manned with U.S. Air Force personnel. JTWC services include tropical cyclone 

forecasts, warnings, and other products for DOD warfighters, operating in the Pacific and Indian 

Oceans. JTWC, located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is an internationally recognized tropical cyclone 

forecasting center. 

Naval Oceanography enterprise (NOe). Naval METOC underpins every aspect of naval 

operations and warfare. It provides an affordable and sustainable competitive advantage to the 

Nation and protects the substantial National investment in both afloat and ashore force structure. 

The NOe, which is supported by ocean engineering, operational supercomputing, and operations 

research, in recent years reinvented itself to meet the warfighting needs of the operators and the 

fiscal needs of today’s Navy. 

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Littoral Battlespace Sensing (LBS). LBS is 

the Department of the Navy’s IPOE 

approach for atmospheric and oceanographic 

data collection, data processing, and 

data/product dissemination to users. LBS 

facilitates better tactical decision making by 

enabling a system of networked sensors to 

share information through interoperability 

with Naval and joint networks and 

information systems. It addresses gaps with 

respect to environmental data fidelity (in 

time and space) that have been shown to 

play a critical role in force disposition and 

force posture in current and future naval 

missions. LBS is a critical persistent IPOE 

technology, a key component of the BonD 

framework, supporting Battlespace 

Awareness Joint Capability Area through 

2025 and beyond. 

FNMOC Numerical Weather Prediction 

Systems. FNMOC satisfies the military’s 

requirement for an operational global 

Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) 

capability. This requirement is driven by the 

importance of weather and ocean conditions on modern military operations, the need to use 

classified weather observations to guarantee the very best weather and ocean predictions in 

theaters of conflict, and the imperative to produce and disseminate weather and ocean products 

to military decision makers without fear of interruption or compromise as a result of cyber 

terrorists or cyber warfare. 

In general, FNMOC treats the air-ocean environment as a fully integrated system, from the top of 

the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean, placing special emphasis on the air-ocean interface. 

FNMOC employs four primary models—the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction 

System (NOGAPS), the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS), 

the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Navy (GFDN) model, and the Wave Watch III model 

(WW3)—along with a number of specialized models and related applications. 

 NOGAPS is a hydrostatic, global spectral model that drives nearly all other FNMOC 

models and applications in some fashion, and forms the basis for the FNMOC global 

Ensemble Forecast System. 

 COAMPS is a high-resolution, non-hydrostatic regional model, multiply nested within 

NOGAPS. It has proven to be particularly valuable for forecasting weather and ocean 

conditions in highly complex coastal areas. 

 GFDN is a moving-nest tropical cyclone model, nested within NOGAPS. It is used to 

forecast tropical cyclone tracks globally. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 28, 2011) A GOES-13 

infrared satellite image provided by the U.S. Naval 

Research Laboratory, Monterey, Calif., showing the 

status of Hurricane Irene at approximately 6 a.m. 

EST Sunday, Aug. 28. Hurricane Irene made landfall 

near Cape Lookout, N.C. as a Category 1 hurricane 

and spun north along the Eastern seaboard. The 

storm made a second landfall near Coney Island, 

N.Y., and is affected the New England region later 

that day. (U.S. Navy photo/Released) 

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 WW3 is a spectral ocean wave model that is 

employed both globally (driven by NOGAPS) 

and regionally (driven by COAMPS) in support 

of a wide variety of naval operations. 

Other models support and supplement the main models 

with predictions of ocean thermal structure, ocean 

currents, and other parameters. All of the models are 

configured, scheduled, and operated under the central 

control of FNMOC operations. COAMPS, however, can 

also be configured, scheduled, and operated remotely by 

users in the field as an on-demand modeling service. This 

is done over the Worldwide Web via the FNMOC 

Centralized Atmospheric Analysis and Prediction 

System. 

FNMOC Products and Services. FNMOC’s complex 

and robust operational prediction capability is designed 

to deliver, in conjunction with NAVOCEANO, 

7x24x365 support organized along the warfare areas. For 

example, some FNMOC products consist of detailed 

forecasts of wind stresses and heat fluxes to drive very 

high-resolution ocean models at NAVOCEANO that 

provide ocean thermal structure and currents in support 

of anti-submarine and mine warfare operations, or nearshore wind, sea, and surf forecasts that directly support 

Fleet Operations through ship-to-objective maneuver. In 

many cases, the outputs of the FNMOC models feed 

directly into applications models, tactical decision aids, 

and other products that provide direct support to various 

weather-sensitive activities associated with the 

warfighting directorates identified above. These include optimum path aircraft routing, optimum 

track ship routing, issuance of high-winds and high-seas warnings, hurricane/typhoon sortie 

decisions, covert ingress/egress of Special Operations Forces, ballistic missile targeting, cruise 

missile launch and targeting, radar, EO, and FLIR system performance prediction in support of 

ship self defense, naval gunfire operations, understanding the threats posed by airborne 

nuclear/biological/chemical agents, search-and-rescue at sea, and many other activities. 

FNMOC also provides a wide-range of meteorological and oceanographic observations and 

satellite imagery to complement its models and applications products. These include on-demand 

extracts from its global observational database, a full range Microwave/Imager products, ERS 

and QuikScat scatterometer wind products, a comprehensive view of tropical cyclones via the 

FNMOC TC Web Page, and various experimental satellite products fielded for evaluation in 

conjunction with the Naval Research Lab. 

Many of FNMOC’s products are distributed to users over the Web via the PC-based 

METCASTsystem, and subsequently displayed and manipulated on the user’s PC with the Joint 

East Pacific Ocean (July 21) - 

Aerographer's Mate 3rd Class Eric King, 

Norwalk, Ohio, and Seaman Olivia 

Mailander, Las Cruces, N.M., release a 

weather balloon to gather weather 

information aboard the amphibious 

assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). Boxer 

is currently participating in their 

Composite Training Unit Exercise 

(COMPTUEX) off the coast of Southern 

California. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass 

Communication Specialist 3rd Class Noel 

Danseco). 

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METOC Viewer (JMV) software. This includes all standard METOC fields, synoptic 

observations, and satellite imagery. FNMOC provides a Web-based capability called WxMap 

(i.e., “Weather Map”). WxMap, requiring only a Web browser for access, allows the user to 

select and quickly display predicted METOC fields for any user-defined geographical area. 

FNMOC benefits greatly from collocation with its supporting R&D activity, the Marine 

Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL/MRY). NRL/MRY is a worldclass research organization, with focus on weather-related support to warfighting. FNMOC and 

NRL/MRY share space, data, software and computer systems, and together with the nearby 

Naval Postgraduate School represent one of the largest concentrations of weather-related 

intellectual capital in the Nation. Collocation and close cooperation between research and 

operations, such as exists between NRL/MRY and FNMOC, is the optimum arrangement for 

transitioning R&D quickly and cost effectively into new and improved operational weather 

prediction capabilities. 

NAVOCEANO Products and Services. NAVOCEANO is the Navy's center for operational 

oceanographic support and provides daily analyses and forecasts of the ocean state with a series 

of global, regional, and coastal ocean circulation and wave models. 

The core of the system is the dynamic Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) which predicts 

three-dimensional ocean properties to 96 hours. The 1/8 degree (14km/7.5nm) resolution Global 

NCOM covers the world from pole to pole and is coupled with the Arctic Polar Ice Prediction 

System, which forecasts ice properties for the National Ice Center. 

Twelve regional NCOMs are on line with 24 planned by 2014. Nested 1/36 degree (3km/1.7nm) 

regional NCOM domains of order 20 by 20 degree sizes provide high-resolution ocean forecasts 

in areas of Navy and national interest. Global and regional NCOM products and data fields are 

shared with our NOAA partners. 

NAVOCEANO runs a series of coastal, estuarine, and river domains with resolutions as fine as 

1/360 degree (300 m, 1000 ft) or less in the support of mine warfare and homeland security 

efforts. When appropriate, coastal NCOMs are supplemented by other models including 

HYDROMAP, DELFT3D, and PCTIDES. These models are forced by global and regional 

atmospheric field data provided from FNMOC’s NOGAPS and COAMPS runs. The NCOMs are 

initiated through the assimilation of ocean data from satellites (sea surface temperature and 

altimetry) and various surface and subsurface observing systems, including ship data, ARGO 

profiling floats, and gliders. Observations are also used to evaluate model products and estimate 

model skill. In the near future, the Global NCOM will be replaced by the 1/12-degree resolution 

Global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model, which was developed under the National Ocean 

Partnership Program by a consortium of government and academic scientists, led by NRL 

Stennis and including NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). 

NAVOCEANO is the Navy's primary processing facility for a number of polar-orbiting and 

geostationary satellite collection systems, and is nationally recognized for satellite-derived seasurface temperature and satellite altimeter-derived sea surface topography and wave height 

observations. These products are shared with NOAA partners and are critically important to 

successfully running both the NAVOCEANO ocean models and FNMOC's NOGAPS and 

COAMPS atmospheric models. NAVOCEANO houses a DOD Supercomputer Resource Center 

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that provides the power to run the center's operational ocean models. This center provides a firm 

link between research and operations, facilitating the rapid transition of the latest ocean modeling 

capabilities. 

Naval Aviation Support. Many environmental conditions severely impact flight operations and 

mission accomplishment. These include: wind speed and direction, cloud ceiling, precipitation, 

turbulence, visibility, icing, and severe weather such as thunderstorms. An accurate forecast is 

often the deciding factor in mission success and for the safety of the pilot and their aircraft. Navy 

weather observers and meteorologists analyze current physical environmental conditions and 

forecast atmospheric and oceanographic phenomena, impacting naval flight operations, by 

leveraging state-of-the-art computer models. 

Meteorology and Oceanograpy Education and Training. Navy officers trained as 

meteorologists and oceanographers are all university graduates in meteorology, oceanography, or 

other earth sciences, with most attaining dual meteorology and oceanography advanced graduate 

degrees. Enlisted forecasters and/or briefers are trained in meteorological analysis and 

forecasting at military schools. Enlisted observers receive training at military schools. The 

enlisted Aerographer’s “A” (observer) and “C” (forecaster) schools are located at the Naval 

Technical Training Unit, which is collocated with USAF and Marine weather training at Keesler 

Air Force Base, Mississippi. Ongoing professional development for both officer and enlisted 

personnel is offered through the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Professional 

Development Center in Gulfport, Mississippi (with Pacific and Atlantic detachments). This 

development center offers directorate-specific training, as well as training on general 

oceanographic knowledge. 

Precise Time and Astronomy. This program provides astronomical and timing data for all DOD 

navigation and positioning activities as well as command, control, and communications 

architectures. This program funds upgrades and life-cycle replacements to the Master Clock at 

the USNO for Global Positioning System (GPS III) and maintenance of star catalogs and 

celestial reference frames for strategic systems. 

U.S. Marine Corps 

U.S. Marine Corps METOC Service 

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps METOC Service is to provide meteorological, 

oceanographic, and space environmental information, products, and services in support of 

Marine Corps military operations and garrison activities. The Marine Corps METOC support 

infrastructure is designed to readily deploy and operate in austere expeditionary environments in 

support of Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) operations. The Deputy Commandant for 

Aviation, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, is the responsible office for Marine Corps METOC 

requirements and support. The Marine Corps METOC organization consists of two operational 

chains of command: one for Supporting Establishment METOC units and the other for the Fleet 

Marine Force (FMF). Supporting Establishment METOC units are located worldwide at Marine 

Corps air stations, facilities, air ground training centers, and base installations. These activities 

are manned and equipped to provide direct aviation METOC support to host and tenant units at 

seven major air stations. FMF METOC activities are organized, trained, and equipped to provide 

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tailored support products and services to all combat 

elements of a MAGTF. METOC support focuses on 

projected consequences for expeditionary maneuver warfare 

operations, particularly operational maneuver from the sea. 

Navy and USMC provide training for use of the Tactical 

Decision Aids (TDAs) at PDC and MAWTS-1 and in 

preparation for the deployment of SGOT's and MEU's. FMF

METOC activities are fully interoperable with Joint Force 

operations, as part of a service or functional component 

command. When directed to stand up as part of a Joint Task 

Force headquarters, they are capable of planning, 

coordinating, and leading Joint METOC operations. Marine 

METOC forces can rapidly transition from a pre-crisis state 

to full operational capability in a distant theater, providing 

on-scene support to MAGTF, Joint, combined, allied, and 

coalition operations and other military operations as may be 

directed. FMF METOC assets are permanently assigned to 

Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) headquarters, 

intelligence battalions, Marine Air Control Groups (MACG), 

and Marine Air Traffic Control Detachments. There are three 

MEFs strategically positioned for global response. The I 

MEF, which is based in southern California, and the III MEF, which is forward based in 

Okinawa, Mainland Japan, and Hawaii, report to the Commander, Marine Forces Pacific. The II 

MEF, which is located at bases in North and South Carolina, falls under the Commander, Marine 

Forces Command. 

MEF METOC personnel serve as special staff to the commanding general and are under the 

direction and cognizance of the intelligence division (G-2). The three intelligence battalions in 

the Marine Corps are co-located with respective MEF headquarters. They directly support the 

MEF G-2 and serve as MAGTF intelligence centers during operations. METOC is a vital part of 

the intelligence estimate and is an essential element that supports the Marine Corps Rapid 

Response Planning Process. METOC personnel assigned to these commands provide expertise, 

products, and services that directly support the IPB process by helping intelligence analysts to 

evaluate, integrate, and synchronize METOC effects for both enemy and friendly courses of 

action. 

METOC Support Team (MST). The MST is task-organized and task-equipped to provide a 

limited level of METOC support to combat elements other than an ACE (e.g., a Command 

Element, Ground Combat Element, or Combat Service Support Element) and is assigned in 

support of Marine Expeditionary Unit operations. It is capable of rapidly deploying as part of a 

first-in level of METOC support response to a crisis and can be easily integrated into an Air 

Contingency MAGTF. Additionally, the MST can be assigned to augment a Joint METOC 

Coordination Center during joint operations. MST elements can consist of two to five Marines, 

dependent on mission. When deployed, an MST will normally be assigned to the intelligence 

division/section (GS-2) of the supported combat element or Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 

MST deploys with rugged, ancillary environmental collection and data processing equipment. 

During operations, team members organically collect METOC products, data, and information 

MARJAH, Afghanistan (June 24, 

2010) Chief Equipment Operator 

Michelle Mathis guides vehicles, 

during a sandstorm, to build a 

Mabey-Johnson Bridge. The Naval 

Mobile Construction Battalion Five 

(NMCB-5) is in Afghanistan 

executing general engineering, 

infrastructure construction and 

project management.(U.S. Navy 

photo by Mass Communication 

Specialist 2nd Class Ace 

Rheaume)

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from the nearest deployed Meteorological Mobile FacilityReplacement [MetMF(R)], Navy METOC OA Division 

afloat, host nation, or other METOC support organizations 

and agencies to satisfy METOC information requirements. 

Marine Corps Products and Services 

METOC Support Capabilities—Meteorological Mobile 

Facility-Replacement. The highest level of METOC 

support to the MAGTF and ACE-specific operations is the 

deployment of the MetMF(R). The MetMF(R) provides a 

METOC support capability similar to that found in 

garrison METOC facilities. The MetMF(R) is normally 

employed as part of MWSS to a forward operating base 

and is the only realistic option for large-scale MAGTF 

operations. Once established ashore, the MWSS may 

detach small METOC support teams with portable 

ancillary equipment to a forward base in support of ACE 

units that are separated from the main airbase. This 

redeployment also provides the MetMF(R) with a forward 

data collection capability that significantly enhances 

METOC situational awareness and overall support efforts 

to the entire MAGTF. With appropriate Service personnel 

augmentation, the MetMF(R) is also capable of serving as 

host for an in-theater Joint METOC Coordination Center, during joint operations and exercises. 

Marine Corps Aviation Support. The Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) conduct the complete range 

of air operations in support of the MEF, to include anti-air warfare, offensive air support, assault 

support, aerial reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and control of aircraft and missiles. The 

MAW serves as the principal headquarters for the ACE. Most of the MAGTF’s METOC support 

assets reside within the MAW, specifically at the MACG and its subordinate Marine Air Traffic 

Control Detachments. These assets are organized, structured, and capable of supporting a variety 

of MAGTF and ACE-specific operations as defined by the size, scope, and mission 

requirements. Dedicated METOC support is available for all MAGTF elements from within the 

MAW/ACE. 

Naval Integrated Tactical Environmental System (NITES IV). Each MWSS and METOC MST 

is equipped with a NITES-IV suite to provide forward METOC support. The NITES IV is a 

modular system, used to provide limited METOC support in a stand-alone mode with increasing 

capabilities realized with the addition of SIPRNET/NIPRNET connectivity. The NITES-IV suite 

consists of three laptops. Each laptop is designed to perform a different function, but all three 

are loaded with the same software and can perform the tasks of the others. Because of this 

redundancy, the NITES IV is often not deployed as an entire suite. Mission requirements, 

network availability, and embarkation space dictate how best to employ the NITES IV. 

Naval Integrated Tactical Environmental System (NITES-Next). NITES-Next will be the 

primary METOC processing, exploitation, and dissemination system, converting atmospheric 

Forward Deployed Meteorological 

Mobile Facility System situated at 

Camp_Dywer_Afghanistan MetMF(R) 

NEXGEN is a mobile system that 

provides tactical meteorological 

support to the Marine Air Ground Task 

Force. This system will replace the 

legacy MetMF(R) with current and 

emerging state-of-the-art 

technologies, offering a smaller overall 

size and increased mobility. These 

advancements will significantly 

enhance the meteorological 

capabilities of the Marine Corps 

Expeditionary Forces. (Photograph by 

Major James Glass). 

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and ocean weather information into warfighter impacts, closes capability gaps for safety and 

mission planning in degraded communication environments. 

Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS). The AN/TMQ-53 AWOS is an autonomous, 

man-portable, cost-effective, and rapidly deployable environmental sensing capability that senses 

all the atmospheric parameters required to support tactical aviation operations and associated 

safety of flight concerns. 

U.S. Coast Guard 

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is a military, multi-mission maritime service and one of our 

Nation’s five armed forces. The USCG protects the public, the environment, and the economic 

interests in the Nation’s ports and waterways, along the coast, on international waters, and in 

other maritime regions, as required to support national security. The USCG has a long history of 

environmental observations and science support. Support for meteorological operations and 

supporting research is detailed in other sections of this plan. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

National Unified Operational Prediction Capability Research Partnering Initiative 

The Navy, Air Force/Air Force Weather (AFW), and NOAA/NWS partner in this tri-agency 

management organization. The National Unified Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC) 

vision is a national numerical weather prediction (NWP) system with interoperable components 

built on common standards and a common framework (the Earth System Modeling Framework), 

with managed operational ensemble diversity and a national global NWP research agenda to 

accelerate science and technology infusion. NUOPC focuses on the next-generation systems for 

global NWP with full implementation by 2020, allowing for possible future expansion into other 

areas of numerical environmental prediction. NUOPC established its Initial Operational 

Capability in January 2011, which provides a National multi-model global ensemble exchanged 

between NOAA, the Navy and the Air Force on a one degree grid for 72 variables out to 16 days. 

Upgrades to ensemble systems will continue and the resolution of the exchanged ensemble 

members is scheduled to be doubled by the end of 2013 to one half degree, and doubled again to 

one quarter degree in the next several years as computing and communications capabilities grow 

to support this requirement. The partners continue to use and develop ensemble-based products 

such as the new Wave Watch 3 Ensemble, based on this multi-model system, that brings 

substantial skill improvements over any single model solution. 

The NUOPC multi-model global ensemble forecast system has the potential to establish the 

United States as the premier computer-modeling group in the world. Improvements in predictive 

capability will result in better severe weather warnings (hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms), 

better cost avoidance for weather sensitive industries (agriculture, transportation, utilities, 

defense), and better informed decision making for industry, defense, and the general public. 

Finally, NUOPC efforts are laying the groundwork for the next generation environmental 

prediction system. More information is available at the NUOPC website at: weather.gov/nuopc 

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U.S. Air Force Supporting Research Programs and Projects 

Technology Transition Initiatives. The overarching objective of the USAF meteorological and 

space environmental technology transition program is to give capability designers, operational 

weather personnel, and weather information users the technology and tools to gain and maintain 

the advantage over a potential adversary. AFW’s capability needs in the atmospheric and space 

environment sciences are articulated in the Initial Capabilities Document for the METOC 

Environment, Capability Review assessments, the AFW and AFWA Strategic Plans, the AFW 

Operations Functional Concept and Enabling Concepts (Characterize the Environment, Exploit

Environmental Information, and Net-Centric Operations), and supporting concept and 

implementation plans. AFW also uses cooperative development and testing agreements with 

other governmental agencies and laboratories, as well as with for-profit companies. Both the Air 

Force Institute of Technology and the Naval Postgraduate School offer USAF and Navy graduate 

students in the atmospheric and space environmental sciences opportunities to research topics of 

immediate operational interest to U.S. military services. 

AFW-WEBS is a centralized Web service capability, providing access to environmental 

information appropriate to all levels of operation and command. The program is designed to 

leverage net-centric capabilities and geospatial display services via AFW-WEBS to provide the 

operational warfighting community a single point of access to the total AF authoritative 

environmental content from sources across the AFW enterprise. By 2015, AFW-WEBS will 

have evolved into the single Web site optimized for accessing authoritative AF meteorological 

information and services. All appropriate meteorological information will be serviced in 

geospatially enabled formats for direct integration into warfighter systems and decision cycles. 

Consistent environmental characterizations of key mission-impacting weather parameters 

improved by the FITL process will be used as a common source for both visualized web content 

and for direct M2M services accessed by warfighter systems. AFW forces will employ AFWWEBS capabilities to improve the quality, accuracy, and effectiveness of all-weather support 

processes. Finally, C2, ISR, and MP systems will employ AFW-WEBS products and services to 

help more decision makers maintain better BA and use the knowledge gained from this process 

to plan and execute more effective missions. 

Cloud Forecasting. In applied meteorological R&D, the AF is improving cloud forecasting 

techniques by increasing the resolution, using a new cloud interpretation/typing scheme, 

integrating available satellite (to include non-traditional METSAT) into the cloud analysis, 

incorporating cloud optical properties, and blending numerical weather prediction with forecast 

cloud advection techniques. The AF has transitioned key advances in tactical decision aids into 

operations, permitting improved forecasting of electro-optical system performance and 

generation of cloud and target scene visualizations for training, system development, and mission 

rehearsal. 

Weather Forecast Modeling for Air Force and Army Operations. The Weather Research and 

Forecasting (WRF) model is the next generation community model and is another area of AFWA 

participation in research and development in collaboration with National Center for Atmospheric 

Research (NCAR), NOAA’s NCEP, NOAA’s Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL), the 

University of Oklahoma’s Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms, and others. AFWA 

initially implemented WRF operationally in 2006 and will continue with sponsorship and 

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funding of development at NCAR and ESRL, along with test and evaluation of real-time runs of 

the WRF model runs as well as the WRF-Chem (which takes into account chemical and aerosol 

constituents). The Land Information System analyzes the current state of the land surface to 

provide information to DoD and civilian agencies, and, through coupling with WRF, will 

improve forecasting performance near the surface and in the low levels of the atmosphere. This 

enables AFW forces to provide better battlespace characterization for missions such as (but not 

limited to) low-level aircraft operations, the dispersion of aerosol contaminants, and the 

employment of precision-guided munitions. It also allows for assessment of trafficability for 

ground forces. 

In early 2012, AFWA put a capability called the Air Force Weather Ensemble Prediction Suite 

(AFWEPS) into operations. AFWEPS output, at both the mesoscale and global scale, provides 

better meteorological intelligence for the warfighter by objectively quantifying the forecast 

certainty of mission-impacting meteorological parameters to optimize operational risk 

management for all echelons of decision making. It provides probabilistic algorithms for highimpact variables and quantify biases, allowing concise, focused products. 

Research Partnering Initiatives. AFW is partnering with the NWS and the Navy in the NUOPC 

project. This partnership exists to enable a tri-agency joint global atmospheric ensemble forecast 

system. NUOPC is an integration of ongoing efforts coordinated by a tri-agency management 

organization. The NUOPC vision is a National NWP system with interoperable components built 

on common standards and framework (Earth System Modeling Framework) with managed 

operational ensemble diversity and a national global NWP research agenda to accelerate science 

and technology infusion. 

Tactical Decision Aids. AFW collaborates in the development of several tactical decision aids, 

including the Target Acquisition Weapons Software (TAWS), the Infrared Target Scene 

Simulator (IRTSS), and the Tri-Service Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (T-IWEDA). 

TAWS provides a joint mission-planning tool for combining platform, weapon, target, 

background, and weather factors to depict three-dimensional target acquisition and lock-on range 

and recognition range versus time. 

 TAWS can be used to predict environmental impacts on night vision goggles and low 

light-level systems used by air, naval, and ground forces to execute nighttime operations. 

 IRTSS uses detailed terrain information and multi-spectral imagery with TAWS weather 

inputs to generate forecast target scene images for mission rehearsal. 

 T-IWEDA uses environmental data with force, mission, and/or individual weapons rules 

of engagement or performance parameters to automatically generate mission-impact 

forecasts for large-scale planning efforts such as air tasking order preparation. It aids in 

selecting platforms, systems, or sensors, based on system rules with critical values and a 

forecast of weather conditions. Results are displayed on a red/yellow/green weather 

effects matrix and overlaid on a background map. 

TAWS, IRTSS, and T-IWEDA integrate environmental impacts into the mission execution 

forecasts for operations command and control and for mission planning systems throughout the 

military planning and execution cycle. AFRL, the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems 

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Command, NRL, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) are developing modular 

programs as part of the T-IWEDA initiative. The Tactical Decision Aids program continues 

adding weapons systems and targets to the inputs to these decision aids at the request of users 

from the Services. 

U.S. Army Supporting Research Programs and Projects 

Army Materiel Command (AMC) 

AMC is responsible for the RDT&E of equipment to satisfy the USA’s requirements for 

meteorological support. AMC provides meteorological and climatological support to RDT&E 

projects, involving electro-optical sensors and atmospheric and obscurant effects on systems and 

their performance. It is also responsible for determining weather-impact critical threshold values 

and the environmental sensitivities of battlefield systems, including soldiers. AMC has several 

major subordinate commands and elements carrying out weather R&D responsibilities, including 

the Research Development and Engineering Command, which has responsibility for the USA’s 

Research Development and Engineering Centers and ARL. 

Battlefield Environment Division, ARL Computational and Information Sciences Directorate. 

The Battlefield Environment Division of the Computational and Information Sciences 

Directorate in ARL develops environmental knowledge and technology for the warfighter 

through a robust R&D program aimed at characterizing and modeling the lower atmosphere and 

its effects on Army systems and personnel at very high spatial and temporal resolution. Current 

R&D includes basic and applied research in atmospheric science to provide actionable 

environmental intelligence crucial to the success of current and future operations. The research 

program focuses on (1) measurements, modeling, and theoretical investigations and analysis of 

aerosols, acoustics, and optics to support advances in detection and identification within the 

battlefield environment; (2) research to measure, model, predict, and understand the dynamics of 

the boundary layer atmosphere for its effects on Army systems and operations; (3) research 

necessary to meet the Army’s requirements for detailed atmospheric analyses and very short 

range predictions (nowcasts) over mission execution battlespace domains in complex terrain 

areas and within urban environments. 

The applications and products developed from the division’s efforts are often in the form of 

weather decision aids that compute weather effects and impacts on systems, sensors, personnel, 

and operations and include recommended course-of-action planning, such as optimizing mission 

flight profiles that avoid weather hazards and enhance the probability of mission success. 

The Battlefield Environment Division consists of three branches located at ARL Headquarters in 

Adelphi, Maryland, and at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. It provides a liaison to the 

Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program office located at the NASA Goddard Space Flight 

Center to coordinate on Army satellite data, information requirements, and applications 

development. The division works closely with the AFWA to provide new DOD-relevant weather 

products for evaluation and operational hosting on AFWA’s web page and web-enabled 

technologies, delivering meteorological products and databases to the warfighter. Furthermore, 

the division supports the field artillery community in the area of meteorological accuracy of 

artillery systems and related issues. 

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Battlefield Environment Division, Atmospheric Modeling Applications Branch. The 

Atmospheric Modeling Applications Branch addresses the development of the next-generation 

mission execution forecast model (very short term forecasts) and web-enabled weather decision 

support tools, and mobile weather technologies. 

Meteorological forecast model applications are focused on Nowcast modeling and meso/microscale NWP development, improvements, and evaluation. The Nowcast modeling system will 

produce locally updated high-resolution meteorological data in 3-6 hour forecast blocks, tailored 

for execution-level planning and decision-making applications. As battlefield weather conditions 

change, the Weather Running Estimate – Nowcast (WRE-N) will dynamically produce rapid and 

continuous “local corrections” to regional-scale mission planning operational forecasts, retain 

consistency with theater-wide operational forecast guidance from Air Force and joint DOD 

weather centers, and insure effective assimilation and fusion of local battlefield weather 

observations into each Nowcast modeling cycle. 

Warfighter Decision Aids developed in the branch utilize meteorological model gridded output at 

all scales to provide the commander a tactical advantage with validated and verified, webenabled decision support tools and associated databases. These databases describe the impacts 

expected and the resulting performance degradation due to weather for both friendly and threat 

systems, allowing for analysis and adjustments in tactics and weapon system selection before 

enemy engagement. Such decision tools play an important role in the mission planning and 

execution processes associated with both man-in-the-loop and autonomous command and control 

systems, presenting operators with simple color-coded weather impacts products, contributing to 

overall tactics and route-planning decisions at all echelons of the battlefield. These weather 

impacts products and related new capabilities are being tailored for use on mobile handheld 

devices to provide soldier-specific and individualized weather impacts knowledge to personnel at 

the lowest echelons. 

Battlefield Environment Division, Atmospheric Dynamics Branch. The Atmospheric Dynamics 

Branch addresses basic research, atmospheric measurements, numerical modeling, and 

application development focused on fine-scale, high-resolution dynamics of the boundary layer 

atmosphere that impact the soldier and systems. Projects and capabilities in the branch include 

follow on research to the successful diagnostic 3D Wind Field (3DWF) model to produce an 

Atmospheric Boundary Layer Environment (ABLE) prognostic model for meteorology in urban 

and complex domains that addresses temperature, aerosol, and moisture dynamics as well as 

winds. The 3DWF model is applied as the core capability in the 24/7 detailed wind field and 

airborne hazard monitoring capability to support garrison emergency operations called the LocalRapid Evaluation of Atmospheric Conditions (LREACTM) system. It is also becoming 

operational for limited use in identifying very high resolution terrain effects on boundary layer 

wind flows in mountainous terrain. 

Basic research in the Atmospheric Dynamics Branch also includes improved theoretical models 

for propagation through optical turbulence and fundamental characterization of mechanical 

turbulence for modeling wind gusts and its effects in complex terrain. These models support 

research on biologically inspired methods for micro autonomous systems to sense and react to 

the local turbulent atmosphere. Atmospheric dynamics and effects are measured and modeled for 

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emerging technologies in terahertz-band sensing and imaging, and atmospheric propagation for 

passive imaging, and active laser systems.

Battlefield Environment Division, Atmospheric Sensing Branch The Atmospheric Sensing 

Branch addresses the development of technologies for improving characterization of soldierscale atmospheric processes, atmospheric aerosols, electro-optical and acoustic propagation, and 

soldier battlefield awareness, survivability, and tactical decision-making. Its research objectives 

include improving techniques for rapidly characterizing potentially hazardous atmospheric 

aerosols; providing novel aerosol detection methods that are more rapid and less expensive to 

operate; enhancing situational awareness of improvised explosive devices (IED) and hostile fire 

through: physics-based acoustic source localization and classification for ground and airborne 

sensors, integrated hyperstereo imaging for displays, and polarimetric infrared (IR) imaging for 

aided and automatic target recognition; and improving environmental awareness through 

advances in electro-optic and acoustic remote sensing. 

Recent work has focused on exploiting ultra-compact Doppler LIDAR systems; experimental 

and theoretical developments to better understand electro-optical and acoustic propagation in 

urban environments; and aerosol characterization research. Additionally, branch efforts involve 

the fundamental understanding of the atmospheric turbulence effects on tactical and long-range 

laser beam propagation, as well as efforts to develop advanced techniques for mitigation and 

adaptive turbulence correction for directed energy systems. 

Models and codes under development will provide valuable tools for the investigation of 

environmental effects on acoustic sensor performance. The decision aid models created from

new propagation models will be used to determine the impact of the environment on acoustic 

sensor systems and the detectability of acoustic signals on various military platforms. 

Remote sensing of the battlefield environment, either through active LIDAR (laser radar), 

passive infrared imaging, or passive spectral radiometric systems have significant importance for 

ISR operations. 

Aerosol research focuses on the ubiquitous, but 

relatively unknown, fraction of organic carbon 

aerosols and natural biological aerosols in the 

atmospheric boundary layer. Research to further 

develop and employ ultraviolet-laser induced 

fluorescence, two-dimensional angular optical 

scattering techniques, and Raman will improve the 

understanding of aerosols in natural environment. 

ARL Army Research Office. The Army Research 

Office, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 

manages the Army's extramural basic research 

program in the atmospheric sciences. These programs 

are concerned with understanding the dynamical and 

physical properties, processes, and constituents of the 

atmospheric boundary layer through measurements, 

Accurate wind forecasts are essential to 

deliver airdropped supplies to the precise 

location. (U.S. Army photo) 

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simulations, and theoretical considerations. The basic research program is conducted through the 

peer-reviewed, individual investigator program and occasional special initiatives. The focus of 

the research is on the atmospheric boundary layer over land, where the Army operates. 

Objectives of the research are to develop, from first principles, the physical basis for 

understanding the boundary layer, thereby leading to better understanding, modeling, and 

quantifying of atmospheric effects on soldiers, materials, and weapon systems. The research 

examines quantification, classification, and dispersion of battlefield materials; the effects of 

heterogeneous terrain features on airflow; and the development of natural obscurations 

throughout the diurnal cycle. An essential element of the research is the development of 

instrumentation to measure the volumetric fields of wind velocity, temperature, and moisture of 

the boundary layer at turbulence time scales. Other areas of research focus on acoustic and 

electromagnetic energy propagation and detection/imaging techniques. Special funding areas are 

also managed. The Defense University Research and Instrumentation Program provides funds for 

instrumentation needed to support ongoing research activities. Also basic research under the 

Small Business Innovative Research Program is managed for selected topics. 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers R&D 

The Corps of Engineers (COE) is responsible for reviewing emerging Army systems for 

environmental effects, as stated in Army Regulation 70-1. The COE Engineer Research and 

Development Center (ERDC) develops TDAs and geospatial analysis tools to interpret and help 

the Warfighter to understand the impact of weather on terrain and provide actionable 

information of terrain, atmospheric and weather effects on units, systems, platforms and soldiers 

in support of Mission Command and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance planning. 

TDAs are transitioned to the Digital Topographic Support System (DTSS) and the Commercial 

Joint Mapping Tool Kit (CJMTK). 

 ERDC supports Army weapon systems RDTE with all-season solutions for mitigating adverse 

environmental effects on Army operations. Basic and applied research is conducted on energy 

and mass transfer processes at and near the terrain surface. ERDC develops databases and 

models for predicting the state of the terrain including surface temperature, soil moisture, 

tactical decision aids, and geospatial tools supporting mobility analysis and sensor performance. 

These products transition to research and engineering programs including advanced technology 

demonstrations and specific programs of record such as DTSS and CJMTK. 

Army Test and Evaluation Command 

ATEC is responsible for providing operational meteorological support to Army RDT&E. Under 

responsibilities established in AR 115-10/AFJI 15-157, ATEC meteorological units provide 

meteorological data collection and analysis, consultation, and weather forecast and warning 

services to support Army and other DOD RDT&E activities at eight Army installations. 

Enhancements to ATEC Four-Dimensional Weather System. The Army RDT&E Meteorology 

Program is continuing to collaborate with the NCAR on enhancements to the ATEC 4DWX 

system, which is the backbone of the meteorological support infrastructure at the Army test 

ranges. ATEC 4DWX modeling capabilities include WRF-based real-time four-dimensional 

data assimilation at seven Army test ranges, and Global Meteorology on Demand, a globally 

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relocatable mesoscale modeling system to support Army RDT&E (including ATEC distributed 

and virtual testing) at locations other than the Army ranges. Output from the 4DWX mesoscale 

model forecasts and analyses is used as meteorological input to atmospheric dispersion, noise 

propagation, ballistic trajectory, and other range applications models to simulate many tests and 

their associated impacts. The 4DWX system contributes to improved test planning and conduct, 

selection of more representative locations for test sensors, inclusion of realistic atmospheric 

effects in virtual testing, and forensic analyses of meteorological effects on test results.

Major 4DWX system components include a central data archival/retrieval system for all range 

and external meteorological and model data, the WRF high-resolution mesoscale meteorological 

model, an innovative real-time data assimilation system, and a variety of user-configurable 

displays. The computers installed at each test center to execute the 4DWX models have been 

replaced with a consolidated system located at DPG, with a backup to be located at another test 

center. The consolidated system was much less expensive than purchase of separate computers, 

and has enabled easier and more consistent security upgrades and maintenance. 

The DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Office provided the 4DWX program 

with a high-performance computer (HPC) that since 2007 has enabled operational mesoscale 

ensemble forecasts to support DPG test operations. The DPG ensemble system uses both the 

Mesoscale Model Version 5 (MM5) and the WRF model as members of the ensemble set, which 

typically uses 30 members with varying physics packages, boundary or initial conditions, and 

model type. With this HPC approaching the end of its life cycle, in 2012 DPG purchased a 

replacement system, which will be used for model evaluation studies until the original HPC is no 

longer operable. 

System enhancements during FY 2012 included improvements to the WRF model’s capability 

for deterministic numerical weather prediction specific to each test range, continued work on a 

hybrid data assimilation system to accept additional types of data, continued development of 

both ensemble and analog probabilistic techniques, implementation of updated terrain and land 

surface data, and initial work on Large Eddy Simulation (LES) components for 4DWX. Initial 

installation of the AutoNowcaster thunderstorm prediction system at the Redstone Test Center 

(RTC) was completed. System enhancements during FY 2013 will include continued WRF and 

data assimilation development focused on forecasting improvements at each range, in addition to 

advances which apply generally to all WRF applications, including continued work on hybrid 

data assimilation; improved lightning potential prediction; development of range climatologies; 

continued development of LES capabilities; and initial development of an on-line automated 

real-time quality control for observations. In addition, we will continue enhancements to the 

AutoNowcaster implementations at RTC and at White Sands Missile Range, and will evaluate 

additional AutoNowcaster implementations at ranges where radar data necessary for 

AutoNowcaster operations are available. 

Meteorology Division at DPG West Desert Test Center. The Chief of the Meteorology Division 

at DPG's West Desert Test Center serves as the ATEC Program Manager for Meteorological 

Support to Army RDT&E. Specialized services provided by the division include: (1) technical 

assistance to the ATEC operational meteorological teams/branches; (2) system administration 

support to the 4DWX system components and network connections at each ATEC test center; (3) 

atmospheric model verification and validation, including algorithm evaluation and the generation 

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of validation data sets; and (4) technical assistance to the DoD CB defense modeling community 

in the development of new CB hazard assessment models. Division employees also serve on 

various national and international committees, addressing issues related to meteorological 

measurements, atmospheric dispersion modeling, CB hazard assessment, mountain meteorology, 

and air quality. 

U.S. Navy Supporting Research Programs and Projects 

Resource Allocation. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), through the Oceanographer of the 

Navy, sponsors operational Navy Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) services and 

related research and development. In 2012, the Oceanographer of the Navy acquired 

responsibility for funding the Navy’s meteorology and oceanography Operations and 

Maintenance (O&M,N) funding from the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Director for 

Material Readiness & Logistics, Fleet Readiness Division (OPNAV N43).

Program Alignment. The Naval Oceanography Enterprise (NOe) is changing focus from an 

acquisition-based program to “in- stride” technology transition that will rapidly transition R&D 

into operations and will influence the Navy’s science and technology investments. Emerging 

R&D technologies will be tested in computational and operational environments and transitioned 

after an appropriate collaborative period. 

Earth System Prediction Capabilities. The Navy is partnering with NOAA and other agencies 

on ESPC (Earth System Prediction Capabilities). The ESPC focus is on next-generation systems 

for Global Numerical Weather Prediction, allowing for possible later expansion into other areas 

of numerical prediction with full implementation by 2020. The primary deliverable of ESPC is a 

multi-model global ensemble forecast system, coupling the domains of land, sea, atmosphere, 

ice, and space that has the potential to establish the United States as the premier computer 

modeling group in the world. Improvements in predictive capability are expected to result in 

better severe weather warnings (hurricanes, tornadoes, snow storms), better cost avoidance for 

weather sensitive industries (agriculture, transportation, utilities, defense), and better informed 

decision making for industry, defense, and the general public. 

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SPACE WEATHER SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

Space Weather Prediction Center 

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP) Space Weather Prediction Center 

(SWPC), within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National 

Weather Service (NWS), is the Nation’s official source of space weather alerts, watches, and 

warnings for conditions in the space environment that impact systems and technologies that are 

vulnerable to space weather. The SWPC provides real-time monitoring and forecasting of space 

weather events, conducts research in solar-terrestrial physics, and develops techniques for 

forecasting space weather storms. These services are provided to promote public safety and 

mitigate economic loss that could result from disruption of critical systems such as satellite 

operations, communications and navigation systems, and electric power distribution grids. The 

SWPC operates the national civilian Space Weather Forecast Office, coordinating with Air Force 

Weather Agency (AFWA) personnel at Offutt Air Force base in the production of joint products, 

ensuring a consistent message on the space weather forecast across both civilian and Department 

of Defense (DOD) customer bases. The SWPC provides services to customers on a 24 hour-perday, seven day-per-week basis. SWPC forecasts and products include observations of solar, 

interplanetary, geospace, ionosphere, and thermosphere conditions that impact technologies at 

Earth. The SWPC also develops and evaluates new models and products and transitions them 

into operations. The SWPC takes a leading role in advocating and specifying new spaceenvironment sensors for operational use. 

The SWPC provides services to a broad user community of government agencies including 

DOD, NASA, DHS, DOE, and FAA. The SWPC provides support to industries, public 

institutions, and private individuals including the electric power industry, the airline industry, the 

satellite industry, oil exploration, agriculture, and many users of HF communication and satellite 

navigation. The SWPC also serves as the primary international World Warning Agency for the 

International Space Environment Service (ISES). It exchanges international data (solar wind, Xray, sunspot, corona, magnetic, and ionospheric measurements) in real-time and issues a 

consensus set of daily forecasts for international use. 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Space Weather Services are those specialized meteorological 

services and facilities established to meet the needs of users for information on space weather 

conditions and space weather storms that can affect terrestrial systems, Earth’s atmosphere, and the 

near-Earth space environment. Space weather services include monitoring and reporting of space 

weather storms and their effects on the Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and geomagnetic fields. Early 

warning of an approaching space weather storm, so that timely protective response is possible, is an 

important part of space weather services. 

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U.S. Air Force 

The mission of AFW is to enable joint warfighters to anticipate and exploit the weather...for air, 

ground, space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. As this applies to the ‘Space Weather 

Services’ category, AFW provides space environmental information, products, and services 

required to support DOD operations as required, providing actionable environmental impacts 

information directly to decision makers. 

AFWA’s Space Weather Flight is the DOD’s reachback center for space environmental services 

operations. These personnel apply a detailed understanding of the space environment to translate 

raw data into useful military intelligence information, which can be integrated into the Common 

Operating Picture. 

Forecasters in the Space Weather Flight, 2nd Weather Squadron (2 WS), 2nd Weather Group (2 

WXG) at the AFWA, monitor the Sun’s emissions and provide mission-tailored analyses, 

forecasts, and warnings. Their products are used for mission planning and environmental 

situational awareness by national agencies, DOD operators, warfighters, and decision makers. 

Solar emission of highly-energetic particles, X-rays, and radio bursts can produce the following 

effects on DOD operations: 

 Electrical anomalies and degrading of components to satellites and other equipment in 

orbit above the protective levels of the atmosphere. 

 Impacts on electromagnetic signals, influencing High Frequency (HF) communication, 

Ultra High Frequency (UHF) communication, and Global Positioning System (GPS) 

satellite navigation signals. 

 Increased drag on satellites in low-earth orbit. 

 Increased interference or false returns to sunward or poleward looking radars. 

 Potential health impact of radiation exposure to high-altitude aviators and those flying 

over polar regions. 

The 2 WS also provides both immediate and extended backup support for the SWPC. The 

backup may include the use of on-site personnel or augmentation from SWPC depending on 

severity and expected duration. 

The 2 WS space weather technicians located at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska, and at 

solar observatories around the globe never let the Sun slip from view. They provide timely, 

relevant, and accurate space weather information to DOD personnel, issuing approximately 

15,000 forecaster-in-the-loop and automated textual and graphical products warning of 

significant solar activity daily. 

Space environmental information is obtained through a combination of ground- and space-based 

systems. For the near-Earth environment; i.e., ionosphere, ground-based systems provide highly 

accurate point source verification and specification, whereas space-based systems enable global 

coverage and theater-wide situational awareness. For solar data, ground-based systems provide 

reliable observations of the sun in optical and radio frequencies, and space-based observations 

measure frequencies unobtainable from the ground. Space-based systems provide in situ

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measurements of the space environment; i.e., solar wind and magnetosphere. AFW has outlined 

plans to modernize ground-based space sensing and is collaborating with U.S. and Allied 

government and civilian agencies to achieve a robust space-sensing capability. 

AFWA’s 2 WS operates the Solar Electro-optical Observing Network (SEON), a network of five 

ground-based observing sites located around the globe providing 24-hour coverage of solar 

phenomena at optical and/or radio wavelengths. The network sites are: 

 Detachment 1, Learmonth, Australia 

 Detachment 2, Sagamore Hill, Massachusetts 

 Detachment 4, Holloman AFB, New Mexico (relocating to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico) 

 Detachment 5, Kaena Point, Hawaii 

 San Vito, Italy (contract site) 

The SEON network sites 

utilize the Radio Solar 

Telescope Network 

(RSTN) and/or the Solar 

Observing Optical 

Network (SOON). The 

RSTN is composed of the 

Radio Interference 

Measuring Set (RIMS) and 

the Solar Radio 

Spectrograph (SRS) and is 

used to monitor solar radio 

bursts at eight specific 

frequencies as well as a 

spectral band. The SOON 

is used to monitor solar 

flare activity, which can 

trigger coronal mass ejections that may interact with the Earth’s magnetic field to create 

geomagnetic storms. The SOON images the Sun in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, which 

reveals the complex solar activity in the lower atmosphere or chromosphere, as well as imaging 

the Sun in the continuum (pseudo-white-light), which shows sunspots on the Sun's surface or 

photosphere. The SOON also creates magnetograms by analyzing right-hand and left-hand 

circularly polarized light to image the line-of-sight component (Doppler shifting) of the magnetic 

field in the photosphere. When solar emissions are observed over threshold levels, solar analysts 

transmit activity messages that are used to prepare mission-tailored analyses, forecasts, and 

warnings used for mission planning, mission execution, and environmental situational 

awareness. 

AFWA employs a worldwide network of ground-based ionosondes and other sensors to provide 

environmental data in the ionosphere. They manage the NEXt-generation IONosonde (NEXION) 

fielding that started in summer of 2009, which will culminate in 30 NEXION sites worldwide. 

Solar optical and radio telescopes at Learmonth, Australia. Source: U.S. Air 

Force. 

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AFWA funds a database of 27 International Ionosonde sites at the National Geophysical Data 

Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colorado. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates a 

complementary global network of over 125 sensors, deriving ionospheric line-of-sight total 

electron content from GPS signals and provides these data to AFWA. The Air Force Research 

Laboratory (AFRL) at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, provides ionospheric scintillation data 

from a global network of 22 UHF and L-Band receivers, supporting AF command and control 

satellite systems and strategic long-range radar systems. Additional data are provided by the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), which operates a network of ground-based magnetometers, 

primarily in the northern hemisphere, that provide AFWA with critical measurements of the 

Earth’s geomagnetic field and its variances. 

From space, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor-Auroral 

Particle Sensor measures low energy precipitating electrons that interact with the auroral 

boundary, causing the aurora and other high latitude phenomena. The DMSP Special SensorsIons, Electrons, and Scintillation sensor provides top-side measurements of the ionospheric 

environment, complementing ground-based sensors. These data are utilized to assess the impact 

of ionospheric conditions on ballistic-missile early warning radar systems and long-range 

communications. Additionally, the data are used to monitor global auroral activity and to predict 

the effects of the space environment on satellite operations. The Solar X-Ray Imager aboard 

NOAA’s GOES-14 satellite monitors solar X-ray emissions and provides near real-time display 

at AFWA and the SWPC in Boulder, Colorado. AFW also leverages space-based data from 

NASA and other agencies. 

AFW will continue to lead the DOD in space weather operations in FY2013 and beyond. In FY 

2013, AFW will maintain its aggressive posture to upgrade its solar equipment and processes, 

along with providing new or upgraded facilities for some solar locations. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

The Geomagnetism Program (http://geomag.usgs.gov) of the USGS Geologic Hazards Science 

Center provides real-time, ground-based measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field, which are 

an important contribution to the diagnosis of conditions in the near-Earth space environment of 

the Sun, the solar wind, the magnetosphere, the ionosphere, and the thermosphere. During 

geomagnetic storms, brought about by the complex interaction of the Earth’s magnetic field with 

that of the Sun’s, both high- and low-frequency radio communications can be difficult or 

impossible, global positioning systems (GPS) can be degraded, satellite electronics can be 

damaged, satellite drag can be increased, and astronauts and high-altitude pilots can be subjected 

to enhanced levels of radiation. 

Ground-based geomagnetic observatory data are complementary to those collected by spacebased satellites; indeed, most of the hazardous effects on technological systems brought about by 

magnetic storms occur at or near the Earth’s surface. Therefore, the Geomagnetism Group 

monitors the surficial magnetic field by operating 14 magnetic observatories in the United States 

and its territories. The data from these observatories, plus 15 foreign observatories, are 

transmitted to the group’s headquarters in Golden, CO, where they are processed and analyzed. 

Data are then transmitted to the SWPC and AFWA. 

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USGS observatories are operated in cooperation with Intermagnet (http://www.intermagnet.org), 

an international consortium overseeing the operation of over 100 geomagnetic observatories 

distributed around the globe. The USGS Geomagnetism Program is an integral part of the 

National Space Weather Program (NSWP). 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has initiated an Interagency Planning 

effort to develop a Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN) that will identify roles and 

responsibilities of each agency during a Space Weather Event. FEMA is working with their 

interagency partners to define the scope of this CONPLAN and to create a workable scenario on 

which to base the plan. Currently, this effort is in its infancy stage and participants in this effort 

are still being identified. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

Space Weather Prediction Testbed 

The SWPC operates the Space Weather Prediction Testbed (SWPT) to provide the operational 

Space Weather Forecast Office with new models, products, and forecast techniques. The SWPT 

performs applied research and evaluates scientific developments from other agencies to develop 

and identify new capabilities that could improve the prediction skills of the space weather 

forecasters. The SWPT validates and verifies new research results and works to transition 

research developments into operational products and services. Through these activities the 

SWPT achieves its principal objective of infusing the benefits of new research and technology 

developments into operational space weather products and services, in order to improve the 

utility and capabilities of the SWPC alerts, watches, warnings, and forecasts for its customers. 

SWPT Activities include: 

 Maintaining awareness of scientific advances and new techniques being developed to 

identify improved data-analysis techniques, forecast models, and observational systems 

that have potential for significantly improving the forecast guidance provided by space 

weather forecasters; 

 Conducting, supporting, and managing focused research on data-analysis techniques/ 

algorithms, forecast models, and observational systems that have the potential to 

significantly improve the forecast guidance provided to space weather customers; 

 Developing, testing, validating, and verifying promising numerical codes and forecast 

techniques, emerging from the research community to determine their potential benefits 

for possible use in operations; 

 Communicating priorities and operating procedures to maintain fair and open interactions 

with all stakeholders (operational, research, academic, international, and commercial) and 

to stimulate improvements in space weather analysis and forecasting applications; 

Current projects at the SWPT include the following: 

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 Improvements in the one-to-four day forecasts of space weather storms by improving the 

definition and parameterization of coronal mass ejections (CME) for input into 

operational solar-heliospheric models that forecast the propagation of solar disturbances 

through interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth. 

 Improving services to the electric power industry by evaluating and testing 

geospace/magnetosphere models with the goal of transitioning research models into 

operations so that SWPC can provide customers with regional forecasts and 

specifications of space weather impacts. 

 Improving estimates of auroral impacts by the development and transition of an auroral 

forecast model that will provide estimates of where and how intense the aurora will be. 

These forecasts will be used in other space weather models as well as by the general 

public interested in observing aurora. 

 Improving services to GPS/GNSS satellite navigation customers by the development of 

the Whole Atmosphere Model which extends the NCEP Global Forecast Systems 

weather model up to the near-space environment thereby providing specification and 

forecasts of the impacts of the lower atmosphere weather systems on space weather. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Research conducted within the USGS Geomagnetism Program targets space-weather 

applications that use ground-based magnetic-observatory data. Recent work has concentrated on 

the development of a real-time, storm-time disturbance index, Dst, which serves as a standard 

proxy measure of the magnetospheric equatorial ring-current intensity and is an important input 

to numerous operational physics-based models of the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric 

system. Ongoing work is aimed at developing real-time, mid-latitude magnetic-disturbance 

indices needed for measuring localized magnetic disturbances across the contiguous United 

States; real-time, high-latitude auroral-zone indices needed for monitoring geomagnetic 

substorms; and real-time estimates of geomagnetically induced currents that represent a hazard 

for electric power grids. All of these projects are part of a larger project for developing timedependent geomagnetic-disturbance hazard maps. Other current research projects are focused on 

analysis of individual historical magnetic storms, long-term changes in geomagnetic activity, and 

long-term changes in solar-terrestrial interaction, all of which are important for understanding 

the potential hazard posed by magnetic storms that will occur in the future. The research staff of 

the USGS Geomagnetism Program provides leadership and technical guidance to Intermagnet, 

an international consortium that is dedicated to promoting the global integration of magneticobservatory operations. They also represent the USGS in numerous other national and 

international forums. The role of the USGS Geomagnetism Program within the larger NSWP 

was recently summarized in a feature article in the journal Space Weather which is published by 

the American Geophysical Union and is co-sponsored by the ISES. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

The objective of the Heliophysics Division of National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s 

(NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to discover and communicate new scientific 

knowledge concerning the magnetic variability of the Sun, the effect of this variability on the 

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planets of the solar system including the Earth, and the dynamic structure of interplanetary space. 

In short, the focus is on our local star – the Sun – and how it supports our solar system and 

ultimately, life and society on Earth. 

The three areas of concentration are theory development, data collection and analysis, and 

modeling of the resulting scientific understanding. To support this effort, the division operates a 

fleet of 17 missions involving 26 spacecraft. The region of space that must be covered is huge, 

extending from the Sun through the Earth’s near-space environment and outward to the edges of 

the solar system. 

Currently, four NASA research missions provide data that have become essential to our nation’s 

space weather protection community. This is done by either direct broadcast from the satellite to 

a network of NASA and non-NASA receiving antennae, or by data that is processed in near realtime and made accessible via the internet. The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) 

spacecraft provides data on the condition of the solar wind upstream of the Earth’s magnetic 

field. ACE is in extended mission status and its replacement has become a priority at NASA, at 

NOAA, and for the DOD. Other such missions are the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), 

Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO), and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory 

(STEREO). NASA deployed Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) in August 2012, which will 

provide near-real-term information on the Earth’s radiation environment. 

NASA also supports the development of models with its Research Program and the Living with a 

Star Science Program. With the Research Program’s instrument development funding, NASA is 

developing the next generation of instruments that will be capable of observing extreme space 

weather conditions. NASA works to continually improve the understanding of space weather and 

enable improvements to space weather prediction models. Also, within the Research Program, 

as a quality assurance activity to validate solar and space physics research models and to prepare 

them for transition into operational activities, NASA operates a Community Coordinated 

Modeling Center (CCMC), an interagency collaborative activity involving the NSF, NOAA, and 

the DOD. The output of these models are available in near real-time via the Internet. A yearly 

conference entitled R2O (Research to Operations) is held to ensure the effective utilization of the 

models within the broad range of national space weather activities. The intent of this effort is to 

transfer the tools and techniques of CCMC research into the operational arena—the ultimate 

objective of the National Space Weather Program. 

Department of Energy 

The U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) 

supports the NSWP through the collection and distribution of operational data, through 

participation in research missions with space weather applications, and through the development 

of space weather models such as DREAM and AE/AP-9. One of the most significant 

contributions is the collection and distribution of space weather data from 

DOE/NNSA instruments on U.S. government satellites in geosynchronous and GPS orbits. 

DOE/NNSA geosynchronous observations have been available continuously since 1979 and, 

since 1989, measurements span energies from a few electron volts (eV) to tens of MeV. 

Geosynchronous observations are also available in real time from multiple satellites which 

constitutes an important resource for driving real-time specification and forecast models. 

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DOE/NNSA space weather resources on GPS satellites, include both particle measurements for 

the space radiation environment and impulsive RF measurements that provide important 

information on ionospheric structure and density with global coverage (24 satellites). GPS 

observations cover the time period from 1983 to present so, as with other geosynchronous 

measurements, they provide an important resource for space weather climate models and for 

validation and testing of specification and forecast models. 

DOE/NNSA, through the national laboratories, has also provided important space weather 

capabilities through the construction and operation of scientific instruments that also provide 

important space weather information. These include the plasma spectrometer on ACE (L1 solar 

wind), particle detectors on RBSP (ring current, radiation belts, solar particles), Forté 

(ionospheric structure and density), and others. DOE/NNSA has also supported the development 

of space weather models. These include the next-generation climatology model (AE/AP-9) for 

spacecraft design and the DREAM model which is a real-time assimilative model for the 

radiation belts. Both models rely heavily on geosynchronous and GPS observations. A third is 

RAM-SCB which is a model of the ring current. DOE/NNSA strives to partner with other 

entities with space weather interests and is exploring new ways in which its data, models, and 

space weather services can be more fully utilized to support the national space weather 

enterprise. 

National Science Foundation 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports the NSWP in pursuing the program’s objective 

to perform the research and technology transfer needed to improve the specification and 

forecasts of space weather events that can cause disruption and failure of space-borne and 

ground-based technological systems and that can endanger human health. NSF supports space 

weather through dedicated programs as well as through basic space physics research programs. 

Space weather relevant research efforts include the development of large-scale space weather 

forecast models, construction and operation of advanced ground-based instruments and networks 

for the observation of space weather parameters, and the development and demonstration of 

innovative and creative small space weather satellites. NSF NSWP support in FY 2012 was 

estimated at $14 million and is expected to be around the same level in FY 2013. 

U.S. Air Force 

Air Force Research Laboratory 

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) supports Air Force Weather’s space weather 

mission by executing research conducted by external agencies and by conducting in-house 

research on space weather. In space weather research, AFRL programs focus on ionospheric 

impacts to radio frequency systems, charged particle specification and forecasts, solar 

disturbance prediction, and neutral density effects on low-Earth orbiting spacecraft. Working 

closely with the DMSP System Program Office at the Space and Missile Systems Center, under a 

Memorandum of Agreement, AFRL supports the development and upgrading of operational 

space weather sensors, models, and software products to include: space environment sensors on 

the DMSP spacecraft, state-of-the-art ground-based scintillation detectors, total electron content 

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sensors, ionospheric characterization, solar radio and optical emissions observing, and the 

Operational Space Environment Network Display suite of web-based products. 

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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

National Weather Service’s (NWS) Marine and Coastal Weather Services is the lead for the 

Nation’s marine and coastal weather services, encompassing a vast area from inter-coastal 

waterways and near-shore bays and inlets to the open oceans spanning much of the northern and 

western hemispheres. The program is aimed at promoting safe and efficient transportation, in 

support of both commercial and recreational interests, and with consideration of the expanding 

and weather-sensitive U.S. coastal population. Forty-seven coastal Weather Forecast Offices 

(WFOs) and three components of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) 

provide forecasts, analyses, watches, warnings and advisories of maritime conditions as well as 

coastal and tropical hazards. These services are provided for coastal waters, offshore high seas 

waters, and Great Lakes nearshore and open lake waters. Coastal WFOs have responsibility for 

forecasts and warnings extending up to 60 nautical miles from the shore. The centralized Ocean 

Prediction Center of NCEP has responsibility for offshore and high seas waters, meeting U.S. 

international meteorological obligations to marine interests under the International Convention 

for Safety of Life at Sea, to which the United States is a signatory. 

Using observational data sources such as buoy observations and satellite imagery, and numerical 

model guidance, NWS forecasters monitor weather conditions continuously over our responsible 

maritime areas. Routine forecast products and analyses, watches, warnings, and advisories are 

disseminated to describe maritime weather, sea ice and oceanographic conditions including 

tropical-storms and coastal storm hazards. Marine and coastal warning and forecast products 

describe wind, waves, visibility, icing, storm surge, coastal flooding, severe weather, high surf, 

and rip currents. Tropical-storm products describe track and intensity as well as associated 

coastal hazards such as storm surge, waves, and inland impacts. 

The Marine and Coastal Services program collaborates with a wide range of partners within and 

outside of NOAA. The program relies on the Office of Operational Systems and NOAA’s 

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services (NESDIS) for the collection of 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Surface Transportation Services are those specialized meteorological 

services and facilities established to meet the weather information needs of the following surface 

transportation sectors: roadways, long-haul railways, the marine transportation system, rural and urban 

transit, pipeline systems, and airport ground operations. The roadway sector includes State and Federal 

highways and all State and local roads and streets. The marine transportation system includes coastal and 

inland waterways, ports and harbors, and the intermodal terminals serving them. Rural and urban transit 

includes bus and van service on roadways and rail lines for metropolitan subway and surface “light-rail” 

systems. Operational and supporting research programs for Aviation Services are often also relevant to 

airport ground operations, but program budgets counted in Aviation Services are not double-counted here 

under airport ground operations, and vice versa. 

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marine and coastal observations and the delivery of marine and coastal products to users. It 

works with NESDIS, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to provide ice warning 

and advisory services through the joint National Ice Center. It supports the Navy, the USCG, the 

U.S. Maritime Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to operate the 

Nation’s Marine Transportation System safely. It collaborates with the DOD, FEMA, and 

USACE to provide tropical cyclone warning and forecast services; with the USCG, Navy, Air 

Force, and private entities to disseminate weather information to mariners; It supports NOAA’s 

National Ocean Service (NOS) on the PORTS and TIDES programs; and through the World 

Meteorological Organization to coordinate maritime weather and ice safety services with 

national meteorological and hydrological services world-wide for consistent and seamless 

services for world oceans. It also collaborates with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, 

Department of Defense, USCG and Department of Homeland Security to support the emergency 

responses to maritime incidences such as hazardous material spills; maritime domain search, 

rescue, and recovery operations; and security needs. 

National Ocean Service, Marine Transportation System Services 

NOS is the primary civil agency within the federal government responsible for the health and 

safety of our nation's coastal and oceanic environment. Largely through the Center for 

Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) program line, NOS acquires water 

levels, currents, and other physical oceanographic and meteorological data and distributes these 

data and circulation predictions as elements of an integrated NOS program. This program 

provides a comprehensive science-based suite of information required by the marine 

transportation community to ensure safe and efficient transportation, including the transport of 

hazardous materials. NOS also provides coastal oceanographic and meteorological products 

required by the NWS to meet its short-term weather and forecasting responsibilities, including 

tsunami and storm surge warnings. NOS manages several observing systems and programs; 

however, four in particular are heavily linked to the capability of NOAA to meet the marine 

transportation needs of the nation: 

National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON). NOS manages the NWLON, which 

officially consists of 210 stations located along the coasts of the United States and the Great 

Lakes, from which water level data as well as other oceanographic and meteorological data are 

collected and disseminated. NWLON provides data and supporting information to a number of 

NOAA and other federal programs, such as the NOS Nautical Charting Program, NOS Shoreline 

Mapping Program, NWS Tsunami Warning System, NWS storm surge warning/forecast 

activities, and the Climate Services Program. Approximately 182 of the 210 NWLON stations 

contain at least one meteorological sensor (an anemometer, a barometer, an air temperature 

sensor and at some Great Lakes stations a relative humidity sensor), and 150 stations are 

outfitted with a full suite, which includes dual anemometers, a barometer and an air temperature 

sensor. Water level and meteorological data are automatically formatted into SHEF bulletin 

format for inclusion into the NOAA AWIPS system. By FY12, two NWLON stations in Texas 

were upgraded to Sentinels, which are specially-designed water level stations that are built to 

withstand a Category 4 hurricane, and these stations will include a full suite of meteorological 

sensors. The President’s FY12 Budget Request proposed reduced funding for NWLON 

meteorological sensors; therefore, there were no further upgrades of NWLON stations to include 

meteorological sensors. 

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Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®). PORTS® is a decision support tool 

which improves the safety and efficiency of maritime commerce and coastal resource 

management through the integration of real-time environmental observations, forecasts, and 

other geospatial information. PORTS® measures and disseminates observations and predictions 

of water levels, currents, salinity, bridge air gap and many meteorological parameters, needed 

and requested by the mariner to navigate safely. There are 22 existing PORTS® systems that 

comprise a total of 84 PORTS® water level stations. Currently, 66 of these stations contain at 

least one meteorological sensor (anemometer, barometer, air temperature sensor or a visibility 

sensor). In FY 13, three new PORTS® are being planned in Jacksonville, FL, Matagorda Bay, 

TX and Charleston, SC. Of the three new PORTS® only Jacksonville will be adding new 

meteorological sensors. 

The PORTS® systems come in a variety of sizes and configurations, each specifically designed 

to meet local user requirements. PORTS® is a partnership program in which local operating 

partners fund the installation and operation of the measurement systems. The largest of NOS' 

existing installations is composed of over 100 separate instruments. The smallest consists of a 

single water level gauge and associated oceanographic and meteorological instruments. 

Regardless of its size, each PORTS® installation provides information that allows shippers and 

port operators to maximize port throughput while maintaining an adequate margin of safety for 

the increasingly large vessels visiting United States ports. In addition, prevention of maritime 

accidents is the most cost effective measure that can be taken to protect fragile coastal 

ecosystems. One major oil spill can cost billions of dollars and destroy sensitive marine habitats 

critical to supporting coastal marine ecosystems. PORTS® provides information to make 

navigation safer, thus reducing the likelihood of a maritime accident, and also provides the 

information necessary to mitigate the damages from a spill, should one occur. An extensible 

PORTS® can be integrated with other marine transportation technologies such as Automated 

Identification System, Electronic Chart Display Information Systems ECDIS, and Vessel Traffic 

Systems VTS. Visibility sensors are the most recent sensor type to be integrated into the 

PORTS® systems, and there are currently two visibility stations installed in Mobile Bay 

PORTS®. More visibility installations are planned for Narragansett Bay and Chesapeake Bay 

PORTS® in FY12. 

National Operational Coastal Modeling Program (NOCMP). NOCMP serves a variety of users 

with oceanographic nowcast and forecast products for ports, estuaries and the Great Lakes. The 

integration of PORTS® technology and numerical circulation models allows nowcasts and 

predictions of up to five parameters (water level, current speed and direction, winds, water 

temperature and salinity) within the boundaries of the twelve models at locations where physical 

measurements are not available. In FY12 the Northern Gulf of Mexico (including Galveston Bay 

and Mobile Bay)and the Columbia River models became operational. In FY13 a new model in 

San Francisco Bay is scheduled and the development of nested grid models in Mobile, Gulfport 

and Pascagoula to enhance the Northern Gulf of Mexico model. Ongoing developments will 

enable the operational forecast systems to incorporate ecological forecast models and integrate 

the output with circulation measurements to provide information on transports of materials in the 

ecosystem essential for effective marine resource management and homeland security. 

The NOS Continuous Real-Time Monitoring System (CORMS). CORMS was designed to 

operate on a 24 x 7 basis to ensure the accuracy and working status of oceanographic and 

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meteorological observations acquired via the NWLON and PORTS® programs. CORMS 

improves the overall data quality assurance of real-time measurements, reduces NOAA's 

potential liability by not publicly disseminating inadequate data, and makes the observations 

more useful for all applications. CORMS ingests real-time data from all field sensors and 

systems, including the operational nowcast/forecast models, determines data quality, and 

identifies and communicates the presence of invalid or suspect data to real-time users/customers 

who rely on the data. CORMS is especially vigilant during storm and tsunami events to ensure 

the full set of products and services is being disseminated in a timely fashion. An advanced 

version of this system, CORMS 3, provides personnel with alerts as soon as any sensor data are 

suspect or any communications problems arise. This enables speedier communication to 

instrument labs and field crews who may fix the station remotely or initiate emergency 

maintenance, thereby decreasing downtime of a particular station or sensor. In, FY12 new 

enhancements to render internal reports on station statistics and tighter quality control threshold 

values used to flag questionable data we added. 

U.S. Coast Guard 

Although no Coast Guard cutters or shore units are solely dedicated to meteorology, they 

collectively perform a variety of functions in support of the national meteorology program. 

USCG ocean-going cutters and coastal stations provide weather observations to the NWS. Coast 

Guard communications stations broadcast NWS marine forecasts, weather warnings, and weather 

facsimile charts. They also collect weather observations from commercial shipping for the NWS. 

USCG conducts the International Ice Patrol (IIP) under the provisions of the International 

Convention for Safety of Life at Sea. The IIP uses sensor-equipped aircraft to patrol the Grand 

Banks of Newfoundland to locate and track icebergs that pose a hazard to North Atlantic 

shipping. Direct observations are supplemented and extrapolated using a numerical iceberg drift 

and deterioration model. IIP determines the geographic limits of the iceberg hazard and, twice 

daily, broadcasts iceberg warning bulletins and ice facsimile charts which define the limits of the 

iceberg threat during the iceberg season (spring and summer). IIP annually archives data on all 

confirmed and suspected icebergs, and forwards these data to the National Snow and Ice Data 

Center. These data can be accessed via the IIP web page, 

www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=IIPHome. Archived data contains all iceberg sighting data 

along with the last model-predicted position of each berg. 

The Coast Guard participates with the Navy and NOAA in supporting the National Ice Center, a 

multi-agency operational center that produces analyses and forecasts of Arctic, Antarctic, Great 

Lakes, and coastal ice conditions. The Coast Guard also collaborates with NOAA in operating 

the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) which deploys and maintains NOAA’s automated 

network of environmental monitoring platforms in the deep ocean and coastal regions. Five 

Coast Guard personnel fill key technical and logistics support positions within the NDBC. Coast 

Guard cutters support the heavy lift deployment and retrieval of data buoys and provide periodic 

maintenance visits to both buoys and coastal stations, expending approximately 180 cutter days 

annually. Coast Guard aircraft, small boats, and shore facilities also provide direct NDBC 

support. 

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Meteorological activities are coordinated by the Office of Marine Transportation Systems at 

Coast Guard Headquarters. Field management of Coast Guard meteorological support services is 

performed at the Coast Guard Area and District levels. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

Federal Highway Administration 

Road Weather Management Program 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) coordinates a number of research and 

development activities aimed at improving safety, mobility, environmental quality, and national 

security on the nation's highways. These activities include identification and mitigation of 

weather impacts on the roadway environment. The FHWA does not operate either the highway 

or their supporting weather systems but seeks to improve operations in partnership with other 

public agencies (primarily State Departments of Transportation), national laboratories, private 

firms, and universities across the transportation and meteorological communities. Since 1999, 

FHWA's weather-related research activities have been centered in the Road Weather 

Management Program (RWMP) within the Office of Transportation Operations in coordination 

with the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office, which is housed in the 

Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). 

With funding authorized under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) at 5 million dollars per year, the goals of the RWMP 

are limited but span many areas to include: improving understanding of weather impacts on 

highway transportation systems, demonstrating a nation-wide system for observed road weather 

data, research new environmental data sources, enhancing road weather (e.g. pavement 

temperature) and traffic modeling with weather inputs, enhancing mechanisms for 

communicating road weather information to users, and developing decision support tools. For 

FY2011─ FY2013, RWMP major research projects include expanded road weather observed 

data management and decision support applications, weather and road data from vehicles or 

mobile devices (mobile data), and weather-responsive traffic management. 

Road Weather Observing, Data Collection and Management – The Clarus System 

Known as Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS), the standard method for observing road weather 

conditions is with fixed sensors near and/or actually embedded in the road surface that report 

common atmospheric weather variables plus pavement and subsurface road temperature, road 

wetness and pavement chemical concentration. Owned and operated by state, provincial or local 

transportation agencies, nearly 2,500 ESS are deployed across North America and together 

comprise one of the largest weather observing networks. 

Since 2006, a U.S. DOT-sponsored experimental system entitled Clarus (http://www.clarussystem.com/) has been collecting, formatting, quality checking, and displaying ESS road weather 

data from across North America. (Clarus Status Map) This "one-stop-shop" makes observed 

road weather more effectively shared by members of both the weather and the transportation 

communities. The long-term plan of the Clarus System is to transition the capability to the NWS. 

FHWA and NWS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November 2010 to

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establish a framework for 

cooperation and 

coordination for projects like 

the Clarus transition to 

operations. In FY2011, 

NWS and FHWA completed 

a system and requirements 

comparison of the Clarus

System versus NOAA’s 

Meteorological Assimilation 

Data Ingest System 

(MADIS). In FY 2013, these 

agencies will collaborate to 

develop and execute a 

transition plan. An important 

area of current research for 

both agencies is the 

gathering of weather and 

road data from vehicles. 

USDOT Connected Vehicle Research – Vehicle Weather Observations 

Connected Vehicles Research is a multimodal initiative that aims to enable safe, interoperable 

networked wireless communications among vehicles, the transportation infrastructure, and 

personal communication devices.1

 This research aims to leverage the potentially transformative 

capabilities of wireless technology to gather much more system data ultimately making surface 

transportation safer, smarter, and greener. Far beyond reliance on fixed or passive sensors, this 

emerging mobile technology has the potential to provide more extensive real-time travel and 

weather information to both the public sector and private industry. 

Because vehicles were not designed as weather stations, direct weather sensor readings from 

original vehicle equipment are limited to mostly air temperature and pressure, but when 

combined with other vehicle data they could prove useful. Some of the inferred weather 

variables from vehicle data are precipitation rate, visibility, and road surface condition. The 

RWMP is currently working on a Vehicle Data Translator to process weather-related data from 

cars and trucks in order to better characterize the driving conditions along standard distance (e.g. 

one mile) or user-defined road segments. 

In partnership with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the states of 

Nevada and Minnesota, the FHWA began an expanded project in FY2010 to demonstrate how 

data already resident on state fleet vehicles may be collected, processed, transmitted and used for 

maintenance decision making in existing decision and management software tools. The project 

will help determine requirements, standards, and procedures for the collection and processing of 

weather, road condition, and vehicle status variables from mobile sources. Mobile weather and 

road condition data will also be integrated into the Clarus System. The vision is for both public

 

1

 See http://www.its.dot.gov/connected_vehicle/connected_vehicle.htm. 

Participation Status for Clarus

as of April 25, 2012

Canadian

Participation

Clarus Connection Status

Local Participation

City of Indianapolis, IN

McHenry County, IL

City of Oklahoma City, OK

Kansas Turnpike Authority 

Parks Canada

Sensor & Station Count

2,435 Sensor Stations (ESS)

54,195 Individual Sensors

178 Vehicles

Connected (36 States, 5 Locals, 4 Provinces)

Connected plus vehicles (2 states)

Pending (5 States, 3 Locals, 1 Province)

Considering (3 States, 1 Local)

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and private decision-makers to have the benefit of decision support tools that are supported by 

data from millions of vehicles through the connected vehicle initiative. 

Road Weather Information Applications 

Building on the successful prior work of a tool called the Maintenance Decision Support System, 

which provides winter maintenance recommendations (i.e., the mechanical removal of snow/ice 

(plowing) and/or application of chemical anti-icers or deicers), several projects in 2011 

developed new road application and weather information services using Clarus System data from 

two multi-state regions across the western and mid-west US. These applications include 

enhanced road weather forecasting; a seasonal load restriction decision support tool; a nonwinter maintenance and operations decision support tool; a multi-state control strategy tool; and 

enhanced road weather content for traveler advisories. Major findings from the regional 

demonstrations are as follows: 

 The value of road weather observations is clearly quantified 

 Generally, the state DOTs participating in the evaluation have positive reactions to the 

tools. Some of the tools are closer to operational and deployment readiness than others 

 Layering of information is critical. Users prefer to be able to choose the information 

being displayed 

 Developing an effective end-user interface is critical to the success of the applications 

In FY 2012, five universities and three private companies under FHWA contract completed their 

work to develop additional road weather tools and applications that further exploit Clarus

System data. This research seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, improve surface 

transportation weather management and operations, create innovative interfaces, and/or develop 

new applications. The eight projects focused on using Clarus System data are as follows: 

 A Real-time Weather Responsive Traffic Signal System (University of Idaho) 

 Improve weather information in the Regional Integrated Transportation Information 

System for the DC metropolitan area (University of Maryland) 

 Passenger Bus Industry Weather Information Application (GST, Inc) 

 Determination of Mobile Data Quality (UND) 

 New Brunswick-Nova Scotia Clarus Integration Plus (AMEC, Ltd) 

 One-Stop Shop For Rural Traveler Information (Western Transportation Institute) 

 New York 511 Travel System Road Segment Alerting (Telvent, Inc) 

 Integration of Weather and State Crash Data for a Travel Decision Support Tool 

(Michigan Technological University) 

Note the passenger bus project was accomplished by the same contractor that was awarded the 

National Mesonet Pilot and MoPED projects by the NWS. These cross-agency efforts have 

shown great promise. 

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 Surface Transportation Services 

Weather Support for Traffic Managers 

Unlike the national aviation system which has been a heavy user of weather information for 

decades, ground traffic management centers have been slow to integrate weather information 

into their operations. Since 2006, the RWMP focused a series of research projects on WeatherResponsive Traffic Management (WRTM) specifically addressing four areas: data collection and 

integration, human factors, WRTM strategies, and traffic analysis and modeling. 

Initial research has been completed in many areas such as driver behavior in inclement weather; 

traffic speed and volume adjustment guidelines for various precipitation and visibility 

conditions; WRTM state of the practice review of management strategies; test and evaluation of 

those strategies; and message guidance for road weather advisory and control information. 

The RWMP continues to work with several traffic management centers (TMCs) around the 

country using the FHWA Weather Integration Self-Evaluation Guide for TMC’s. The guide steps 

the TMC through a self-assessment of its weather integration needs and identifies ways to 

improve the use of weather information in daily operations. In FY 2013, the RWMP will field 

test improvements to existing WRTM strategies to assess their benefits. 

Only until the last few years have traffic models incorporated weather data or the effects of 

weather. The RWMP completed research on the integration of weather into several traffic 

models including dynamic traffic prediction and assignment systems. In FY 2012, validation was 

completed for initial implementation and deployment to begin on a limited basis in some US 

cities. Research is also being conducted on the use of mobile weather data for traffic 

management. 

The FHWA will continue participation in several OFCM projects including the WIST Working 

Group and the Committee on Integrated Observing Systems (CIOS), among others. The FHWA 

is also participating in NOAA efforts to explore the development of a national mesonet system, 

and is leading the Department’s effort regarding the transportation Societal Benefit Areas of the 

National Earth Observations assessment. Nearing the end of several research projects on data 

management and applications, the RWMP has begun to look at other problem areas and update 

the program’s research agenda. For example, research has begun on the impact of weather on 

trucking, especially in the area of delay costs. The RWMP looks forward to building on past 

successes and partnering with organizations that share the same passion for reducing the impact 

of weather on the nation’s surface transportation systems. 

Federal Railroad Administration 

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has outlined plans to support research on improving 

the collection, dissemination, and application of weather data to enhance railroad safety through 

its Intelligent Weather Systems project included in the FRA’s 5-year Research and Development 

Strategic Plan. These programs address safety issues for freight, commuter, intercity passenger, 

and high-speed passenger railroads. Intelligent weather systems for railroad operations consist of 

networks of local weather sensors and instrumentation—both wayside and onboard 

locomotives—combined with national, regional, and local forecast data to alert train control 

centers, train crews, and maintenance crews of actual or potential hazardous weather conditions. 

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 Surface Transportation Services 

FRA intends to examine ways that weather data can be collected on railroads and moved to 

forecasters, and ways that forecasts and current weather information can be moved to railroad 

control centers and train and maintenance crews to avoid potential accident situations. This is 

one of the partnership initiatives identified in the National Science and Technology Council’s 

National Transportation Technology Plan. 

Operationally, the FRA relies on the meteorological data streams coming for the National 

Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center when issuance of regulatory waivers to railroads 

during times of severe weather is necessary. 

NOAA/National Ocean Service 

Marine Transportation Research 

Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program (OSTEP). OSTEP facilitates the transition of new 

oceanographic and meteorological sensors and systems to an operational status, in support of the 

NWLON and PORTS® programs. OSTEP tests instruments to ensure that they meet NOS 

requirements, develops operational deployment and implementation processes, and establishes 

quality-control criteria. OSTEP also develops defensible justification for the selection of 

instruments used for CO-OPS installations, and subsequent validation procedures for the devices 

traceable to U.S. National Standards or other accepted standards. OSTEP is conducting a shortterm anemometer study with USACE over FY11 and FY12 to explore a new technology for 

possible deployment at NWLON and PORTS® stations. Also, ongoing testing will reveal 

correlations of visibility data to other meteorological data types, and will result in a possible 

change in the standard sensor configuration of PORTS® visibility stations. 

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 Surface Transportation Services 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

WILDLAND FIRE WEATHER SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

Fire Weather Services in the National Coordination Structure for Wildland Fire 

Management 

Just as the service category for aviation weather derives from the need to understand and prepare 

for the influences of weather and other atmospheric conditions on the activity of flying aircraft, 

wildland fire weather services are needed to understand and predict the influences of weather and 

other atmospheric conditions on fire in the environment, particularly with the objective of 

assisting in the activity of managing and controlling such fires. Wildland fire weather services 

are therefore an integral part of the larger activity of wildland fire management. 

National Wildfire Coordinating Group 

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) is a collaborative group of partners with a 

shared vision and national responsibilities for wildland fire management. Each with individual 

missions, they focus on firefighter and public safety by improving coordination and integration 

through sharing talents, information, and resources. The NWCG provides leadership to the 

wildland fire community regarding training, standards, equipment, firefighting qualifications, 

and other wildland fire functions. The NWCG ensures that member agency efforts are consistent 

and coordinated while working collaboratively toward common goals. The Executive Board of 

the NWCG includes the Fire Directors of the five Federal wildland fire management agencies: 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Fish and Wildlife 

Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS) in the U.S. Department of the Interior and the 

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in the Department of Agriculture. The Executive Board also includes 

representatives from the U.S. Fire Administration within the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, Department of Homeland Security USFS Research, and two entities with responsibility 

for wildfire management on non-Federal forest lands: the National Association of State Foresters 

and the Intertribal Timber Council. There are two levels of oversight and policy 

coordination/strategic direction above the NWCG: the Wildland Fire Leadership Council at the 

most senior Federal agency level (directors of the wildland management agencies) and the 

Wildland Fire Executive Council (WFEC) for executives of offices directly responsible for 

wildland fire management. 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Wildland Fire Weather Services are those specialized meteorological 

services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the wildfire management community at the 

Federal, state, tribal, and local levels. The primary areas of service are to support the reduction of wildfire 

initiation potential and the mitigation of both human and environmental impacts once initiation does 

occur. Services can include support to first responders and land managers and climate services tailored to 

wildland fire management. 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

The NWCG is organized into four branches. There are fourteen committees and numerous 

subgroups within the branches, representing the many business areas of wildland fire (such as 

aviation, equipment, fuels, qualifications). The NWCG committee most directly and frequently 

involved with capabilities for informing the wildland fire community about fire weather is the 

Fire Environment Committee (FENC) in the Equipment and Technology Branch. Permanent 

subcommittees currently chartered under the Fire Environment Committee are: . The Fire 

Weather Subcommittee (FWS) maintains the Interagency Wildland Fire Weather Station 

Standards and Guidelines, which addresses the network of permanently located Remote 

Automated Weather Stations (RAWS), portable stations used for incident response and 

prescribed fire, and manual fire weather stations. The Fire Environment Observation Unit under 

the FWS consists of the agency RAWS program managers who maintain the network of 2200 

stations for their wildland fire agencies. The Fire Danger Subcommittee provides interagency 

direction to the Forest Service for the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) – a 

strategic planning tool - and its national processor, the Weather Information Management 

System (WIMS). RAWS and manual station observations are key weather inputs to the NFDRS 

in WIMS. The Fire Behavior Subcommittee provides interagency guidance for the use of fire 

weather observations for determining fire behavior predictions from a variety of tactical 

applications. These predictions include the work of the Fire Behavior Analyst working closely 

with the Incident Meteorologist (IMET) on fire incidents. National Predictive Services 

Subcommittee oversees and provides guidance to the Predictive Services Program, which 

provides an important range of fire weather capabilities to the wildland fire community through 

the Predictive Services Units discussed below. In 2012, the FENC developed guidance released 

by the Executive Board on management of the RAWS network: 

http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/426/index.htm. The RAWS network is generally located in 

remote areas. RAWS observations fill a critical spatial gap in the initialization of the National 

Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). 

National Interagency Fire Center 

The National Interagency 

Fire Center (NIFC), located 

in Boise, Idaho, is the 

Nation's support center for 

wildland firefighting. Eight 

different agencies and 

organizations are part of 

NIFC: the five wildland 

management agencies, the 

National Weather Service 

(NWS) in the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), the 

National Association of State 

Foresters, and the U.S. Fire 

Administration. Decisions are 

made using the interagency 

cooperation concept because 

Entrance to the NIFC in Boise, showing the logos of the 

participating Federal agencies and the National Association of 

State Foresters. 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

NIFC has no single director or manager. 

The National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), located at the NIFC, coordinates the 

national mobilization of resources for wildland fire and other incidents throughout the United 

States. Wildfire suppression is built on a three-tiered system of support: the local area, one of the 

11 geographic areas, and finally, the national level. When a fire is reported, the local agency and 

its firefighting partners respond. If the fire continues to grow, the agency can ask for help from 

its Geographic Area Coordinating Center (GACC). When a geographic area has exhausted all its 

resources, it can turn to the NICC for help in locating what is needed, from air tankers to radios 

to firefighting crews to incident management teams. 

National Predictive Services Program 

Under the Predictive Services Program, meteorologists who specialize in fire weather services 

team with intelligence specialists and wildland fire analysts at the GACCs and the NICC to form 

Predictive Services Units. Each GACC and the NICC has a Predictive Services unit staffed with 

one or two meteorologists and an intelligence specialist. The NICC unit and Pacific Northwest 

GACC include a wildland fire analyst, and some of the GACC units add a fire behavior specialist 

during fire season. The Predictive Services units act as centers of expertise to produce integrated 

planning and decision support tools that enable more proactive, safe, and cost-effective fire 

management. The Predictive Services Program functions under the guidance of the National 

Predictive Services Subcommittee of the NWCG. 

NOAA/National Weather Service 

NWS Fire Weather Services support Federal, state, and local land management agencies such as 

the BLM and the USFS. On the national level, the NWS Storm Prediction Center issues 

assessments in advance of the development of critical fire weather patterns up to 8 days in 

advance. NWS also issues a complete Fire Weather Forecast twice daily, with updates as needed. 

The forecast contains weather information relevant to fire control and smoke management for the 

next 36-48 hours. The appropriate dispatch zones and crews use this information to plan staffing 

levels, equipment placement, prescribed burn conditions, and to assess the daily fire danger. 

Once per day, NWS meteorologists issue forecasts for specific wildland observation sites for 

input into the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS). NFDRS determines land use 

restrictions and informs the public of the daily fire danger via the Smokey Bear awareness 

campaign. The WFOs also determine if a Fire Weather Watch or a Red Flag Warning needs to be 

issued. These products alert the public and other agencies that conditions are creating the 

potential for extreme fire behavior. Finally, on a request basis, NWS forecasters issue spot 

forecasts for specific fire incidents or prescribed burn projects. 

Upon request, NWS also provides on-scene assistance at large wildfires or other disasters, 

including HAZMAT incidents, by deploying Incident Meteorologists (IMET) to work with 

Incident Management Teams. These forecasters come from many different WFOs of all major 

NWS regions, and frequently support incidents more than a thousand miles from their home 

station. IMETs travel quickly to the incident site and then assemble a mobile weather center 

capable of providing continuous meteorological support for the duration of the incident. They 

gather other weather information through a remote connection and provide stand-up and on-the2-195
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spot forecasts/analysis to firefighters and agency heads. The IMET program is coordinated and 

implemented nationally by the National Fire Weather Operations Coordinator and the National 

Fire Weather Program Manager, located at the NIFC. 

The NWS has implemented regional digital weather files to complement currently-provided spot 

forecasts. The weather output enables Fire Behavior Analysts to directly input gridded weather 

data into fire danger assessments. These improvements are particularly important near zones 

where planned communities meet the wildland forests (known as the Wildland-Urban Interface 

or WUI). FY 2012 improvements also include the creation of two fire weather specific gridded 

weather elements, and an improved spot forecast program with access to smoke trajectory 

modeling. . In addition NOAA and the USFS signed a fire weather research MOU that serves to 

coordinate applied fire weather research among the two agencies. Finally, the NWS renewed the 

Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services with land management Agency Federal 

partners in September of 2012. The Agreement is valid through September 2017. NWS will 

continue excellent interagency relations with the wildland fire community through 

implementation of a new Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

U.S. Forest Service 

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) uses meteorological data and interpretation skills data for 

decision making regarding wildland fire management. The Forest Service Fire and Aviation 

Management program operates a network of approximately 940 remote automated weather 

stations (RAWS) in a national network of over 2200 stations. The network provides real-time 

information which is key in the highly utilized Weather Information Management System 

(WIMS) used by fire agencies across the country. The data collected is crucial to supporting 

active wildfire decision-making including use in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System and 

associated fire modeling tools as well as for decision-making for prescribed fire operations. In 

FY 2011 and 2012, a cache of 15 combined smoke and meteorology monitoring devices has been 

established to support responses to smoke impacts from wildland fire and to aid in strategic 

decisions. 

The program provides liaison with the Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group (STIWG) 

and its associated Technical Working Group and with the NWS, the wildland fire management 

agencies in the Department of the Interior (BLM, FWS, BIA, and NPS), State fire protection 

agencies, and the NWCG on the delivery of fire weather data and forecasting, critical for safety 

and effectiveness of firefighting and for flash flood warnings. The Forest Service RAWS 

Program manages the Interagency RAWS Website to support the program. The website address 

is http://raws.fam.nwcg.gov/. These stations form the basis for the assessment of fire danger, the 

pre-positioning of firefighting resources, and the conducting of prescribed fire operations. The 

costs include maintenance support contracts, maintenance training sessions, contracts for the 

delivery of this information to agency personnel, fire weather forecasters, and state forestry 

agencies that use the data in real-time for critical decisions. 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

The agency weather program works with the National Predictive Services Group at the NIFC to 

provide technical support and oversight to the 11 GACCs. It also works closely with the Forest 

Service Research and Development staff in the oversight of the five Fire Consortia for Advanced 

Modeling of Meteorology and Smoke (FCAMMS) locations. This effort, in cooperation with 

NOAA and EPA, provides valuable fire weather, smoke forecasting and air quality information 

to fire and air quality programs. The FCAMMS and Predictive Services Group provide critical 

information for both planning of wildland fire activities as well as operational decision-making. 

The Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) integrates emerging science and 

technology in support of risk-informed decision making. It is a web-based system for 

documenting decisions, supporting analyses, and completing operational plans applicable to and 

used for all wildland fires. It promotes access to numerous information analysis tools in the areas 

of fire behavior modeling, fire weather information, economic principles, air quality and smoke 

management, and information technology to support effective wildland fire decisions consistent 

with Land and Resource Management Plans and Fire Management Plans. The WFDSS greatly 

reduces text input requirements by using spatially oriented and graphically displayed 

information. The system incorporates a progressive decision documentation and analysis process 

that can be scaled and adapted to match situational changes. Through WFDSS, information is 

assembled, consolidated, and processed for decision makers in a way that fosters collaboration 

and, ultimately, provides better opportunities to improve large wildland fire strategic decision 

making. Tools are being developed in FY 2012 that will aid in assessing multiple incidents for 

enhanced strategic decision making. 

U.S. Geological Survey 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation 

with the USFS, routinely provides weekly forecasts of 

fire danger for the conterminous US and provides these 

forecasts to the National Interagency Fire Center. The 

forecasts are derived from an integration of vegetation 

condition observed from satellite and meteorological 

forecasts provided from the NWS’s National Digital 

Forecast Database (NDFD). The NDFD forecasts 

provide meteorological information necessary for the 

calculation of live and dead fuel moisture, a critical 

element in determining wildland fire danger. 

For active fire, the Basic Fire Behavior and Short-Term 

Fire Behavior components of the WFDSS use forecasted 

weather from the NDFD. NDFD incorporates Remote 

Access Weather Station location to derive forecasted 

weather data. This forecast information, along with 

geospatial data provide by the USGS are used to derive 

live and dead fuel moisture characteristics and wind 

conditions to aid in the prediction of fire behavior. Wildland fires in the wildland-urban 

interface are a continuing threat to 

lives and property. 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

Landslides Hazards Program. Debris flows and flash floods that originate from steep 

watersheds burned by wildfire pose considerable hazards to downstream communities and 

structures. Fires throughout the western U.S. have impacted hundreds of thousands of acres of 

public land and made it susceptible to increased runoff and debris-flow activity. Science-based 

information on post wildfire debris-flow hazards is critically needed by Federal, State, and local 

agencies to issue warnings and to mitigate the impacts of post-fire hazards on people, their 

property, and natural resources. A joint NOAA/USGS, flash flood and debris flow warning 

system for recently burned basins in southern California was established in 2005 by linking the 

existing NWS Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction (FFMP) system with rainfall intensityduration thresholds for burned areas developed by the USGS. Such a system is being used to 

issue Outlooks, Watches and Warnings that are disseminated to emergency-management 

personnel and the public through the NWS existing protocol. The USGS has also developed 

models for characterizing potential post-fire debris flow susceptibility that, when compared with 

forecast or measured precipitation, have been used to generate maps of potential hazards in realtime, which have been disseminated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

and the public through existing NWS protocol. The USGS has also developed models for 

characterizing potential post-fire debris flow susceptibility that, when compared with forecast or 

measured precipitation, have been used to generate maps of potential hazards in real- time, which 

have been disseminated to FEMA and to State and local agencies. Since its inception, numerous 

advisories have been given to residents and public officials, resulting in saved lives and reduced 

property damage. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

Department of Agriculture 

U.S. Forest Service 

The research and development (R&D) mission of the USFS is to develop and deliver knowledge 

and innovative technology to improve the health and use of the Nation’s forests and grasslands—

both public and private. R&D provides this information to landowners, managers, policymakers, 

and the American people to help inform their decisions and actions. USFS researchers work 

independently and with a range of partners to provide land managers with information and 

technology to make management and land use decisions on issues such as invasive species, 

healthy watersheds, wildfires, climate change, and traditional and alternative forest products. The 

USFS R&D workforce includes scientists and technicians in the biological, physical, and social 

science fields, working in partnership with researchers from other agencies, academia, nonprofit 

groups, and industry. 

Air pollution effects (primarily nitrogen and sulfur deposition and ozone) remain a serious threat 

to forest health and aquatic systems in many parts of the U.S. Forest Service Research (FSR) is 

studying the long-term effects of air pollution on forests and water resources of the Sierra 

Nevada, Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the Appalachian Ridge in the east, and Cascades of the 

Pacific Northwest. Nitrogen and sulfur atmospheric deposition have been studied for many years 

in eastern forest watersheds, but these areas have only recently been studied. FSR has completed, 

in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NPS, National Forest 

System Air Program, and the European Union International Co-operative Programme on 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests, a mock national assessment of 

critical loads of atmospheric deposition on ecosystems known to be sensitive to air pollution. 

Based on this experience FSR is working closely with other USFS collaborators and academic 

institutions to assess the uncertainty of these critical load measurements and to determine gaps in 

available data. 

Smoke from forest fires and other biomass burning is a national concern as use of prescribed fire 

in ecosystem management increases. Exposure of fire fighters and citizens to forest fire smoke, 

changes in visibility and haze, and smoke contributions to regional and local air pollution are of 

concern. FSR is the world leader in developing emissions factors from fires and modeling its 

dispersion. FSR has conducted research on impacts of smoke on human health; relationships 

between on-site meteorology and smoke dispersion; consequences of smoke to visibility in Clean 

Air Act Class I Areas; the chemical nature of black carbon emissions from fire, and the potential 

of smoke to exacerbate particulate matter and ozone episodes. FSR has provided basic research 

to support State air regulatory programs and EPA’s development of both primary and soon to 

come secondary air quality standards. Through FCAMMS, real-time smoke and fire weather 

research products are supplied nationally to fire and air quality managers continuously with 

predictions of impacts made out to 7 days in the future. A key development in smoke and fire 

weather research products is the development of the WFDSS Air Quality Portal, which provides 

access to historic, real-time and forecasted air quality and meteorological information using a 

stand-alone web portal. Eight air quality and emissions tools provide information about the 

current smoke situation, climatological statistics, and weather forecasts. Five tools are available 

for immediate and short term smoke assessments. Two smoke guidance tools provide firespecific tabular point forecasts and regional maps of air quality metrics. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) supports innovative, near-term 

demonstrations of its scientific results, technology developments, and satellite observations for 

societal benefit. These projects serve as a bridge between NASA-generated data and knowledge 

and the information and decision-making needs of public and private organizations. End-users of 

NASA’s products are able to apply Earth observations and model results to support activities that 

influence productivity, enhance quality of life, and strengthen the economy. 

In 2012, NASA reviewed proposals focused on the application of Earth observations and models 

to wildland fire management activities. The Applied Sciences Program within NASA’s Earth 

Science Division solicited feasibility studies and applied research related to wildland fires in 

support of management strategies and actions, business practices, and policy analysis and 

decisions. The solicitation also focused on multidisciplinary topics of health and air quality, 

ecological forecasting, water resources, disasters, and climate as topics related to wildfires. Of 

the 48 proposals received, NASA selected 17 projects for awards, addressing activities from prefire to post-fire stages. The projects will commence in late 2012. Projects will address fuel 

loads, fuel treatment planning, risk assessment, air quality, insect infestations, remediation, 

burned area rehabilitation, and other topics to support the use of Earth observations and models 

in land management approaches. 

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Wildland Fire Weather Services 

NASA collaborates with USFS, NIFC, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire 

Protection in the Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership (WRAP) project. The goal is 

to improve on existing capabilities and models employed by the National Interagency Command 

Center and the Incident Command Structure, which are responsible for day-to-day wildfire 

management and suppression. The WRAP project efforts in 2012 focused on transitioning the 

NASA Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) airborne imaging spectrometer, and associated 

sensor operations capabilities to operational use on the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), 

National Infrared Operations (NIROPS) aircraft. The AMS will be flown in FY 2013 as an 

additional sensor asset, supporting national assessment capabilities during wildfire season in the 

US. The sensor will augment capabilities of the wildfire management community, and allow the 

NIFC to maintain 24/7 imaging capabilities during peak fire seasons, when they are frequently 

over-subscribed in their support to emergency situations. Efforts focused on sensor adaptation to 

both a jet and turbo-prop aircraft, systems engineering, and operations training and test / 

evaluation flights will occur at the end of FY 2012 and early FY 2013. When operational on 

USFS NIFC aircraft, the sensor will be a shared resource asset, supporting wildfire observations 

for applications (intelligence support to incident managers), and to the wildfire scientific 

community (including NASA), with improved measurement capabilities of distinct fire 

properties that influence biological and atmospheric processes. 

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Other Specialized Services 

OTHER SPECIALIZED SERVICES 

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provides operational weather 

support to spaceflight operations through the Human Exploration and Operations Mission 

Directorate (HEOMD). 

Kennedy Space Center Weather Office 

The HEOMD Weather Office at NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSCWO) has oversight 

responsibility for operation and maintenance of the weather information infrastructure required 

for NASA’s Space Shuttle and its successor manned spaceflight programs, and Expendable 

Launch Vehicles (ELV) programs. The infrastructure is a multi-agency partnership between 

NASA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Commerce (DOC), and 

includes KSCWO, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Johnson Space Center 

(JSC), the DOD’s US Air Force (USAF) 45th Space Wing, and the DOC’s National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) Spaceflight 

Meteorology Group (SMG). KSCWO also provides daily staff meteorological support to KSC 

and NASA programs operating from KSC or the Eastern Range. 

The ELV program operates from many locations, including CCAFS, Vandenberg AFB in 

California, NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, and the US Army Ronald Reagan Ballistic 

Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Island. KSCWO ensures that DOD weather support at 

DOD sites meets NASA requirements through training, technology, and tools. The KSCWO 

works with non-DOD sites and their weather service providers (such as the NWS or commercial 

companies) to provide similar assurance at those sites for NASA launches. 

KSCWO is the NASA lead for the joint NASA and USAF Lightning Advisory Panel (LAP), 

which provides independent scientific assessments of changes to the lightning launch commit 

criteria (LLCC) and technical guidance about lightning-related issues on facilities and ground 

operations. The Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

utilizes the same criteria for lightning flight commit at commercial spaceports. 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Other Specialized Services include weather and climate 

information services and facilities established to meet the special needs of user agencies or 

constituencies not included in basic services or the preceding service categories. This service category 

includes any efforts to integrate the social sciences into meteorological operations, applications, and 

services not already described in the preceding sections. 

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Other Specialized Services 

. 

In FY 2012, the KSCWO: 

 Supported Space Shuttle Transition and Retirement (T&R). 

 Supported the Tri-Program through infrastructure and requirements concept studies for 

the Space Launch System (SLS), Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), Ground Systems 

Development and Operations (GSDO), and Experimental Flight Test 1 (EFT-1). 

 Led the Weather Sub-Team of the joint NASA/Air Force Future State Definition study to 

define the architecture of the combined KSC/Eastern Range assets through 2025. 

 Supported NASA ELV launches from the Eastern and Western ranges as well as 

commercial and DOD launches from the Eastern Range. 

 Supported infrastructure and concept of operations development for commercial launch 

programs and the NASA launch facility at Wallops Island, VA. 

 Began procurement of a replacement for the aging 50 MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler 

(DRWP) that supports all launches from KSC and the Eastern Range. 

 Completed updating the KSC on-line Weather Archive website 

(http://trmm.ksc.nasa.gov/). 

 Continued assisting the FAA with the development of Lightning Flight Commit Criteria 

for the commercial sector. 

In FY 2013, the KSCWO will: 

 Continue to support the ELV and Space Shuttle T&R programs. 

 Continue to support Wallops Island, Kodiak, and other launch facilities in addition to the 

DOD ranges. 

 Continue to support commercial launch operators in developing weather infrastructure, 

requirements, and concepts of operation. 

 Continue assisting the FAA with the development of Lightning Flight Commit Criteria 

for the commercial sector. 

 Support the Tri-Program, and continue support for planning and design of the test flight 

programs. 

 Support the transition and retirement activities of the Space Shuttle Program. 

 Continue to work with the Eastern Range to define the requirements and infrastructure 

for weather support at KSC and CCAFS in the post-Shuttle era. 

 Continue procurement of a replacement for the 50 MHz DRWP. 

Spaceflight Meteorology Group 

The SMG is located at JSC. In FY 2012, the SMG: 

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 Operated with significantly reduced staff of 2 meteorologists in first half of FY12, and 1 

meteorologist in second half of FY12. 

 Provided consultation on the Orion/Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle program (MPCV), 

specifically Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) scheduled for April 2014. 

 Supported two Orion parachute drop test events at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ with 

surface and upper wind forecasts. 

 Supported NASA with enroute forecasts for recovery personnel flying from Houston to 

Kazakhstan and back to Houston—to retrieve U.S. astronauts landing on the Russian 

Soyuz spacecraft after flying on the International Space Station. 

 Supported the JSC Morpheus Lander Project by providing forecasts and weather 

consultations for multiple Morpheus test firings at JSC in Houston. 

 Provided support for multiple large outdoor events at JSC. 

 Provided ongoing lightning and severe weather customized advisories for JSC 

management, weather sensitive operations, and employees. 

 Prepared for AWIPS 2 transition scheduled for summer 2012. 

 Participated in school outreach with schools across the U.S. via the JSC Educational 

Office Skype Studio. 

In FY 2013, SMG will: 

 Provide consultation on the Orion/Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle program (MPCV), 

specifically Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) scheduled for April 2014. 

 Support Orion parachute drop test events at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ with surface and 

upper wind forecasts. 

 Support NASA with enroute forecasts for recovery personnel flying from Houston to 

Kazakhstan and back to Houston—to retrieve U.S. astronauts landing on the Russian 

Soyuz spacecraft after flying on the International Space Station. 

 Support the JSC Morpheus Lander Project by providing forecasts and weather 

consultations for multiple Morpheus test firings at JSC in Houston. 

 Provide weather support to large outdoor events at JSC. 

 Provide ongoing lightning, severe weather, and tropical storm/hurricane customized 

advisories for JSC management, weather sensitive operations, and employees. 

 Support educational outreach events. 

The Space Radiation Analysis Group

The Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) is located at JSC and is responsible for ensuring 

that the radiation exposure received by astronauts remains below established safety limits. SRAG 

is responsible for daily assessment of the Space Weather environment for human exploration, 

and works directly with flight control teams to assess in real-time mission impact of adverse 

Space Weather conditions. Some of the key Space Weather-related activities that SRAG is 

conducting in FY 2012 and FY 2013, include: 

 Daily monitoring of the Space Weather environment and impact assessment for manned 

missions. 

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 Developing and maintaining protocols for radiation environment contingency response 

and analysis. 

 Operating instruments both internal and external to manned spacecraft for radiation 

environment characterization, quantification and impact assessment. 

 Developing collaborations for maintaining necessary space radiation measurements for 

instruments operating beyond planned lifetimes. 

 Transitioning from research to operations of maturing Space Weather forecast models. 

Marshall Space Flight Center 

The Natural Environments Branch (NEB) at MSFC develops and implements weather support 

requirements for the Space Shuttle and other programs, including development and evaluation of 

launch constraints. 

In FY 2012: 

 The NEB developed terrestrial environment specifications, and provided atmospheric 

data and models for vehicle design and operation for the Space Launch System (SLS) and 

Multi-Purpose Crewed Vehicle (MPCV) programs. 

In FY 2013: 

 The NEB will continue to develop and improve atmospheric wind and thermodynamic 

climatological data sets and models for vehicle design and operational safety margin 

analysis for the SLS and MPCV programs. 

 The NEB will begin developing day-of-launch procedures relating to upper air wind and 

thermodynamic requirements for the SLS and MPCV programs 

U.S. Air Force Space Launch Support 

Air Force Weather (AFW) provides meteorological and space weather products to the Nation’s 

space and missile programs, including a wide range of weather observing services at the Air 

Force Eastern Range and KSC. AFW also provides tailored forecasting for NASA’s manned and 

unmanned launches and for commercial launches from KSC. In addition, AFW provides 

specialized meteorological information for the Air Force Western Range at Vandenberg AFB, 

California; the Pacific Missile Range, which includes Point Mugu and San Nicholas Island, 

California, and Barking Sands, Hawaii; White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Kwajalein 

Missile Range, Republic of the Marshall Islands; and other DoD research and test facilities as 

directed. The 45th Weather Squadron directly supports the 45th Space Wing of Air Force Space 

Command at Patrick AFB, Florida, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The 30th 

Operations Support Squadron Weather Flight supports the 30th Space Wing across the Western 

Range at Vandenberg AFB, California. 

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U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command 

Support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) 

Army Kwajalein Atoll, a subcommand of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command 

(USASMDC), provides operational support to the RTS. The RTS meteorological services 

contractor provides support for range activities, including local and remote missile launches, 

missile weapons readiness testing, aviation and marine operations, and emergency operations. 

A full suite of meteorological surface, 

upper air, satellite, radar, and lightning 

observing systems are available. Surface 

systems include an intra-atoll mesonet 

and an FAA-approved Automated 

Weather Observing System (AWOS IIIP/T), supporting range and International 

Civil Aviation Organization Army 

Airfield operations at Kwajalein. Upper 

air sounding systems (1680 MHz), 

utilizing Global Positioning System 

(GPS) radiosondes, are located on 

Kwajalein and Roi-Namur. One portable 

GPS upper air system (403 MHz) is 

available to provide soundings at remote 

locations. A dual-polarized Doppler Sband weather radar provides weather 

surveillance from Kwajalein Island, and a 

Doppler C-band weather radar is 

available for operations at Wake Island. Both are volume-scanning radars that support prediction 

of lightning events. Two Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) satellite 

receivers (one mobile) and one geostationary satellite receiver provides access to satellite 

imagery, cirrus cloud detection, and cloud height, with data processing and analysis provided 

through McIDAS management and display systems. A lightning detection network of four 

sensors is available to the RTS meteorologist at Kwajalein. A thunderstorm sensor that includes 

a field mill supports lightning prediction and detection at Wake Island. One thunderstorm sensor 

is attached to the AWOS III-P/T. RTS provides rocketsondes locally and at remote locations 

where radar tracking can support. 

In cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, RTS Weather continues to support 

global climate studies through the Tropical Rainfall Measurements Mission and the follow-on 

program of Global Precipitation Measurement. Solar-Earth radiation fluxes monitoring with a 

suite of radiation measurements systems have continued since 1989 in support of work at 

NOAA’S Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL). 

A rocketsonde launch on Kwajalein Atoll. U.S. Army 

Photo.

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National Park Service/Fish and Wildfire Service 

NPS Air Quality and Visibility Monitoring 

The National Park Service (NPC) monitors air quality and visibility in a number of national 

parks and monuments. Gaseous pollutant data are collected on continuous and integrated (24-

hour to weekly) bases. Surface meteorological data are collected and analyzed for hourly 

averages. Precipitation chemistry is determined on week-long integrated rainfall samples. 

Twenty-four-hour-average particle concentrations (mass, elemental analyses, some chemical 

constituent analyses) are measured every third day. Atmospheric light extinction is measured 

continuously and relayed to a central location for analyses. 

Joint Air Quality Monitoring 

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Air Quality Branch and the NPS Air Resources Division 

operate under an interagency agreement and are located in Lakewood, Colorado. Expertise from 

both agencies is pooled to address the air quality issues that are the responsibility of the Assistant 

Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. 

The NPS oversees the operation of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments 

(IMPROVE) network and the IMPROVE Protocol network in cooperation with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NOAA, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the FWS, the 

Bureau of Land Management, and various State organizations. Currently, the network has about 

170 sites, mostly funded by the EPA in support of its regional haze regulations and through other 

cooperators. The enhanced network allows a better characterization of visibility and fine particle 

concentrations throughout rural and remote areas of the country (see figure above). 

Map of three-year average standard visual range (SVR) from 2005-2008, in kilometers, calculated from 

IMPROVE particle concentrations. Also shown are the locations of most of the IMPROVE and 

IMPROVE protocol sites. 

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Assessments and evaluations of radiological impacts. 

At the present time, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is a user of meteorological 

information rather than a performer of research in this field. Meteorological data are used to 

assess radiological impacts of routine airborne releases from facilities and to evaluate the impact 

of proposed changes in plant design or operation on unplanned releases. The NRC also maintains 

an interest in the effects of extreme meteorological events on the safe operation of nuclear 

facilities. The NRC uses current meteorological information and climatological predictions of 

long-term (100 years) extreme meteorological events to evaluate new reactor designs and sites. 

Information of this type is also important for developing scenarios of climatological impacts on 

the isolation of long-lived nuclear wastes. 

Within the NRC, the Offices of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and New Reactors conduct reviews 

of nuclear power plant siting, design, construction, and operation, while the Offices of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards and Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 

Programs conduct similar reviews of materials and waste facilities. All these reviews include 

consideration of meteorological factors. Employees of these NRC offices also conduct 

rulemaking activities to establish regulatory requirements, and the NRC Regional Offices assure 

that NRC licensees comply with the regulatory requirements. 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

U.S. Army 

U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine 

U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) conducts basic and 

applied research on the effects of heat, cold, high terrestrial altitude and nutritional status on the 

health and performance of Warfighters and combat crews operating military systems. 

Applied research in thermal physiology and biophysical modeling is directed towards improving 

Soldier performance and minimizing health risks in climatic extremes. The sensitivity of the 

Soldier to local weather parameters (primarily ambient temperature, dew point, wind speed, and 

solar radiation) defines an operational envelope for unimpaired human performance. The overall 

goals of USARIEM weather-related research programs are to develop methods to effectively 

monitor and, where possible, extend the operational envelope for both training and operational 

scenarios. USARIEM is investigating methodologies needed to integrate real-time local 

environmental data and Warfighter physiological data with predictive model processes. The 

effective fusion of these two real-time data streams will enable near-term environmental strain 

and performance status predictions for Warfighters. 

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National Park Service 

Air Quality Research 

The National Park Service (NPS) conducts and contracts research to develop and test air quality 

models to assess long-range transport, chemical transformation, and deposition of air pollutants. 

These models are used to estimate source contributions to, and to identify source regions 

responsible for, observed pollutant loadings. 

NPS is conducting research in the area of atmospheric nitrogen loading to high-elevation 

ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains, which have documented effects from nitrogen deposition. 

Measurements taken at Rocky Mountain National Park, in Colorado, indicate that routine 

monitoring networks may underestimate nitrogen deposition on the order of 30 percent by not 

analyzing for organic nitrogen and not routinely monitoring for ammonia gas. Source 

apportionment analyses indicate that under high loadings in the spring season, much of the 

nitrogen deposited at the park originates in the urban and agricultural areas of Colorado to the 

east of the park. By contrast, nitrogen loadings during the summer months had a significant 

contribution from Colorado, but higher loadings were noted from source regions out of the state. 

NPS is continuing this line of research in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, where some 

effects on aquatic ecosystems from nitrogen deposition have also been documented. A suite of 

field measurements of atmospheric reactive nitrogen was completed in 2011 and is currently 

being analyzed. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Kennedy Space Center Weather Office 

The Kennedy Space Center Weather Office (KSCWO) is described in the section above on 

Operational Programs. In FY 2011, the Director of Research for the KSCWO was a coinvestigator on a climate research proposal to a FY 2011 NASA/ROSES solicitation. The 

proposal was selected for award in FY 2012 and work on the research was begun. In FY 2013, 

the KSCWO will continue work on the project along with the Principal Investigator from Embry 

Riddle Aeronautical University and co-investigator from the University of Central Florida. The 

project is entitled “Vulnerability Analysis of the Environment, Facilities, and Personnel of the 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to Extreme Weather Events and Climate Anomalies Resulting 

from Global Climate Change.” 

Applied Meteorology Unit 

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) is a joint venture between KSCWO, the U. S. Air Force 

45th Space Wing, and the NWS. The AMU is co-located with the 45th Weather Squadron at 

CCAFS. The AMU develops, evaluates, and transitions weather technology into operations. 

In FY 2012, the AMU: 

 Updated the Objective Lightning Probability Forecast Tool using the National Lightning 

Detection Network (NLDN) daily lightning flash count across central Florida to 

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determine if the data can be stratified by lightning sub-season instead of calendar month. 

Specifically, new elements included adding six more years of data from the 1989-2011 

warm seasons of May-October to create a 23-year lightning climatology and adding 

October to the database. A correlation was not found between the NLDN flash count and 

lightning sub-seasons. Therefore, the existing tool was updated with the additional six 

years of data and included October as part of the warm season months. 

 Developed Objective Lightning Probability Forecasts for commercial airports in EastCentral Florida for which the National Weather Service in Melbourne has forecasting 

responsibility. Used NLDN lightning strike data from the 1994-2011 warm seasons of 

May-September. Calculated daily flow regimes and flow regime lightning occurrence 

probabilities for each airport. Stability parameters from the CCAFS sounding were used 

to calculate candidate predictors. After the data were stratified by month, logistic 

regression equations were developed and their performance was evaluated. Delivered the 

capability in an Excel-based graphical user interface (GUI). 

 Developed a capability for the 30 WS at Vandenberg AFB (VAFB) to determine the 

frequency of occurrence of potential violations of user-driven launch weather upper-level 

wind constraints to improve the overall forecast and probability of violation on the day of 

launch. Used the 1994-2011 VAFB soundings to determine the probability of violation of 

specific user constraints for maximum wind speed and shear within specified altitudes in 

support of the Minuteman III ballistic missile operations. Delivered the capability as an 

Excel-based GUI. 

 Developed a capability for the NASA Launch Services Program for 45 WS launch 

weather officers (LWOs) to rapidly assess Global Forecast System (GFS), North 

American Mesoscale (NAM) and Rapid Refresh (RAP) model forecasts of upper-level 

winds by calculating the differences between the model data and current upper-level wind 

speed and direction observations from the KSC 50 MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profiler 

and CCAFS Automated Meteorological Profiling System (AMPS) soundings during 

launch operations. Developed code in Excel to ingest and graphically display real-time 

model and observational data and delivered the capability as an Excel GUI to the LWOs. 

 Investigated the feasibility of creating a dual-Doppler capability using the 45 Space Wing 

and NWS Melbourne Doppler radars. This would provide a three-dimensional display of 

the wind field and enhance the forecasters’ ability to predict the onset of convection and 

severe weather. Conducted a literature review and consulted with experts to determine 

the requirements necessary to establish a dual-Doppler capability and investigated cost 

considerations and viable alternatives to implement the dual-Doppler capability. 

 Evaluated configurations for a high-resolution model for the Eastern Range (ER) and 

Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) to better forecast a variety of unique weather phenomena 

in support of space launch activities. Ran test cases for the warm and cool seasons using 

several Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model domain configurations. 

Preliminary results comparing the WRF model forecasts against wind tower, accumulated 

precipitation, and sounding data show that Advanced Research WRF (ARW) outperforms 

the WRF Non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NMM). 

 Assessed the utility of using Global Positioning System (GPS) precipitable water (PW) 

and output from the AMU objective lightning probability tool to predict the probability of 

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lightning at a possible temporal resolution of every 30 minutes, the temporal resolution of 

the GPS PW. Conducted tests to determine the time period for the GPS PW change that 

produces the best probability forecast. If the output from the new analysis improves the 

lightning prediction capability, then the AMU will develop a GUI to display the 

probability of lightning. 

 Supported launch operations for three Atlas V, one Delta IV and one Falcon 9. 

In FY 2013: 

 For FY 2013, the specific tasking for the AMU will be determined at the annual Tasking 

Meeting to be held during the 4th quarter of FY12. 

 FY 2013 taskings are expected to be similar in kind to those for FY 2012 and previous 

years. 

 For information about the AMU tasking process and previous years’ taskings, consult the 

AMU website at http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/amu/. 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Air Quality Research 

Meteorological support to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and 

Development and Office of Air and Radiation, EPA regional offices, and to State and local 

agencies includes the following activities: 

 Conducting basic and applied research in air quality modeling 

 Conducting field studies for air quality model development and air quality model 

evaluations 

 Developing and applying multi-scale and multi-pollutant air quality models for pollution 

control, direct and indirect exposure assessments, and emission control strategy 

assessment 

 Reviewing of meteorological aspects of environmental impact statements, state 

implementation plans, and pollution variance requests 

 Providing Air Quality Index forecasts to state and local agencies for health advisory 

warnings 

 Understanding the relationships between air quality and human health 

 Understanding the atmospheric loading of pollutants to sensitive ecosystems 

 Understanding the interactions of global climate change and air quality 

 Emergency response planning in support of homeland security 

Meteorological expertise and guidance are also provided for developing the national air quality 

standards, modeling guidelines, and policy development activities of the EPA. In light of the 

1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act and the recent national rules, air quality models and the 

manner in which they are used are expected to continue to grow over the next few years. In the 

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area of pollutant deposition, the evaluation of nitrogen, oxidant, sulfur, and aerosol chemistries 

will help to clarify the roles of model formulation, cloud processes, aerosols, radiative transfer, 

and air/surface exchanges in air quality model predictions, leading to a better understanding of 

model predictions relative to control strategy assessments. Further development and evaluation 

of existing air quality models will take place to accommodate the inter-pollutant effects, resulting 

from the variety of control programs that are now or may be in place, such as the new National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and particulate pollution. These inter-pollutant effects 

include trade-offs among controls on ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic 

compounds, as well as developing predictable methods of forecasting the impacts on various 

measures of air quality. 

With respect to the fine particulate model development, air quality models are being enhanced to 

accurately predict aerosol growth from precursors over local and regional-scale transport 

distances. As the concentration thresholds for the standards decrease, it will be important to 

understand intercontinental transport of pollution and how this would affect our ability to meet 

and maintain standards in the future. To assist in the evaluation of the contribution of various 

sources to regional air degradation, inert tracer and tagged species numerical models have been 

developed. These models will introduce separate calculations for inert or reactive chemical

species emitted from a particular source or region. The calculations will proceed to simulate 

transport and transformation to a receptor point, where the contribution of emission sources can 

be discerned. 

Atmospheric research, regarding the effects of climate change on regional air quality, involves 

both analytical and statistical climatology as well as linking global climate models with regional 

chemical transport models, and the development of coupled models to better simulate the 

interactions between meteorology and atmospheric chemistry. Currently research is underway to 

test the efficacy of these models to accurately simulate the effects of aerosols on radiation. 

Research in human exposure modeling includes both micro-environmental monitoring and 

modeling and the development of exposure assessment tools. This research entails linking air 

quality models to exposure models to understand the relationships between air quality and 

human health. Micro-environmental algorithms are being developed based on field data to 

predict air quality in buildings, attached garages, and street canyons. These improved algorithms 

are then incorporated into micro-environmental simulation models for conducting human 

exposure assessments within enclosed spaces in which specific human activities occur. 

In addition to the above major areas, dispersion models for inert, reactive, and toxic pollutants 

are under development and evaluation on all temporal and spatial scales; i.e., indoor, urban, 

complex terrain, mesoscale, regional, and global. Other efforts include modeling nutrient 

deposition to the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf Coast, mercury deposition to the Florida Everglades, 

and the determination of meteorological effects on air quality. Atmospheric flow and dispersion 

experimental data obtained from wind tunnel and convection tank experiments in the EPA Fluid 

Modeling Facility will be used to continue development and evaluation of these models along 

with providing researchers with insight into the basic physical processes that affect pollutant 

dispersion around natural and man-made obstacles. For example, the transport and dispersion of 

airborne agents in the Manhattan, New York, and the Pentagon were simulated in the wind 

tunnel to help build confidence in the modeling assessment of the source-receptor relationships 

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for horrific events such as the one that occurred on September 11, 2001. The impacts of roadway 

configuration, noise barriers, and vegetation on air quality near roadways are being assessed, and 

improvements are being made to the EPA’s AERMOD model to better simulate the transport and 

dispersion of pollutants from roadways. 

Over the past 25 years, numerous air quality simulation models have been developed to estimate 

reductions in ambient air pollutant concentrations, resulting from potential emission control 

strategies. Separate models were developed, for example, for tropospheric ozone and 

photochemical smog, for acid deposition, and for fine particles. Distinct models also existed for 

addressing urban scale problems and the larger regional scale problems. It has been recognized, 

however, that the various pollutant regimes are closely linked chemically, spatially, and 

temporally in the atmosphere. The principal purpose of the Community Multi-scale Air Quality 

(CMAQ) modeling project was to develop a “one-atmosphere,” flexible environmental modeling 

tool that integrates the major atmospheric pollution regimes in a multi-scale, multi-pollutant 

modeling system. This system will enable high-level computational access to both scientific and 

air quality management users for socio-economic applications in community health assessments 

and ecosystem sustainability studies. 

The CMAQ model (first released in June 1998) is used by Federal and state agencies, industry, 

and academia and is updated periodically to reflect the state-of-science. The latest version of 

CMAQ, which includes science enhancements and computational efficiencies, was released in 

February 2012. It is also intended to serve as a community framework for continual advancement 

and for use in conducting environmental assessments. To this end, EPA has established a 

Community Modeling and Analysis System at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 

North Carolina, to provide user support and training to modelers at the state agencies and 

universities. New versions of the CMAQ modeling system and associated documentation 

(Installation and Operations Manual, User Manual, Science Document, and tutorial) are publicly 

available. Additional information is available on the division web site at 

http://www.epa.gov/amad. 

From FY 2005 to FY 2008, the EPA worked closely with the NWS National Centers for 

Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in the continued development, evaluation, and use of a 

coupled meteorological-chemical transport model (WRF-CMAQ) for predicting ambient air 

quality over the continental United States. NWS implemented the CMAQ modeling system, to 

provide daily forecast guidance for ozone nationwide on an operational basis and fine particulate 

matter forecast on an experimental basis. State and local air quality management agencies are 

responsible to forecast local air quality and provide health advisory warnings. 

The EPA, through participation in the interagency Information Technology Research and 

Development (IT R&D) Program, is developing a modeling framework that supports integration 

of diverse models (e.g., atmospheric, land surface, and watershed). The EPA’s IT R&D work 

also enables increased efficiency in air quality-meteorological modeling through research on 

parallel implementation of the CMAQ modeling system. The evolving research seeks to improve 

the environmental management community’s ability to evaluate the impact of air quality and 

watershed management practices, at multiple scales, on stream and estuarine conditions. The 

following primary objectives are directed toward this goal: 

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 Developing a prototype multiscale integrated modeling system with predictive 

meteorological capability for transport and fate of nutrients and chemical stressors 

 Enabling the use of remotely sensed meteorological data 

 Developing a computer-based problem-solving environment with ready access to data, 

models, and integrated visualization and analysis tools for water and air quality 

management, local and regional development planning, and exposure-risk assessments 

A variety of research areas are being pursued such as the integration of hydrology and 

atmospheric models; coupling of meteorology and atmospheric chemistry calculations to account 

for the influence of radiatively active atmospheric pollutants on atmospheric dynamics and 

subsequent effects on air pollution; enhanced atmospheric dry deposition models; multi-scale 

and spatially explicit watershed modeling tools; and model-coupling technology for integrating 

media and scale-specific models. 

The EPA also maintains good working relationships with foreign countries to facilitate the 

exchange of research meteorologists and research results, pertaining to meteorological aspects of 

air pollution. For example, agreements are currently in place with Canada, the United Kingdom, 

Greece, Japan, Korea, China, India, and Mexico, and with several European countries under the 

NATO Committee for Science for Peace. 

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 A-1 

APPENDIX A 

ACRONYMS 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-2 

3DWF 3D [three dimensional] Wind Field [model] 

4DWX Four-Dimensional Weather System 

AAWU Alaska Aviation Weather Unit 

ACC [USAF] Air Combat Command 

ACCESS Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science 

ACE Advance Composition Explorer 

AD Active Duty 

ADA Air Domain Awareness 

ADAS AWOS Data Acquisition System 

ADDS Aviation Digital Data Service 

AFB Air Force Base 

AFCENT Air Force Central Command 

AFI Air Force Instruction 

AFRC Air Force Reserve Command 

AFRI Agriculture and Food Research Initiative 

AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory 

AFW Air Force Weather 

AFWA Air Force Weather Agency 

AFWEPS Air Force Weather Ensemble Prediction Suite 

AFW-WEBS Air Force Weather Web Services 

AgriMet [Bureau of Reclamation] Agricultural Weather 

AHPS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service 

AIP Airport Improvement Program [FAA] 

AIRMoN Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network 

AMC U.S. Army Materiel Command 

AMS American Meteorological Society; [FAA] Acquisition Management System; 

Autonomous Modular Sensor; Analysis and Modeling Subsystem 

AMSR Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 

AMSR-E [Aqua satellite] Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-E 

AMU Applied Meteorology Unit 

ANG Air National Guard 

ANSP Air Navigation Service Provider 

AO Announcement of Opportunity 

AOC [NOAA] Aircraft Operations Center 

AOML Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory 

AOR Area of Responsibility 

ARL [NOAA] Air Resources Laboratory 

ARM Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility 

ARS Agricultural Research Service 

ARTCC Air Route Traffic Control Center 

ASCC Army Service Component Commands 

ASNE MSEA [DOD] Air and Space Natural Environment Modeling and Simulation Executive Agent 

ASOS Automated Surface Observing System 

ASR Atmospheric System Research [activity in DOE/CESD]; Airport Surveillance Radar 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-3 

ASR-11 Airport Surveillance Radar Model 11 

ASR-9 Airport Surveillance Radar Model 9 

ASWON Automated Surface Weather Observation Network 

ATCSCC Air Traffic Control System Command Center 

ATD atmospheric transport and diffusion 

ATDD Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division [NOAA] 

ATEC U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command 

ATLAS Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System 

ATM Air Traffic Management 

ATO Air Traffic Organization [FAA] 

ATOP Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures 

ATOS Applications, Transactions, and Observations Subsystem 

AWC [NOAA/NECEP] Aviation Weather Center 

AWG Aviation Weather Group [FAA] 

AWIPS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System 

AWOS Automated Weather Observing System 

AWOS III-P/T Automated Weather Observing System [variant of AWOS] 

AWRP Aviation Weather Research Program [FAA] 

AWRT Advanced Weather Radar Technique 

AWSD Aviation Weather Services Directorate 

AWSS Automated Weather Sensors Systems 

BASC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate 

BCTP Battle Command Training Program 

BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs 

BLM Bureau of Land Management 

BonD Battlespace on Demand 

CAC [U.S. Army] Combined Arms Center 

CAgM [WMO] Commission for Agricultural Meteorology 

CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations 

CAP Civil Air Patrol; Common Alerting Protocol 

CASR Committee for Aviation Services and Research 

CBRNE chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive 

CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

CCMC Community Coordinated Modeling Center 

CCSP U.S. Climate Change Science Program 

CDMP Climate Database Modernization Program 

CDR climate data record 

CEISC Committee on Environmental Information Systems and Communications 

CENR [NSTC] Committee on Environment and Natural Resources 

CENRS [NSTC] Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability 

CERIS Coastal, Estuary Resource Information System 

CESD Climate and Environmental Sciences Division [DOE Office of Science] 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-4 

CESM Community Earth System Model 

CESORN Committee on Environmental Services, Operations, and Research Needs 

CFC chlorofluorocarbon 

CFSR Climate Forecast System Reanalysis

CHPS Community Hydrologic Prediction System 

CI-FLOW Coastal-Inland Flood Observation and Warning 

CICE DOE/OS/CESD sea ice model 

CICS Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites 

CICS-NC Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites North Carolina 

CIOS Committee for Integrated Observing Systems 

CIP Current Icing Product 

CISM Community Ice Sheet Model (DOE/OS/CESD) 

CJMTK Commercial Joint Mapping Tool Kit 

CLASS Comprehensive Large-Array data Stewardship System 

CLIVAR Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment 

CMAQ Community Multi-scale Air Quality 

CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert System 

CMD-P Computer Meteorological Data-Profiler 

CME coronal mass ejection(s) 

CMIP5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 

CMS Carbon Monitoring System 

CNMOC Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command 

CNO Chief of Naval Operations 

COAMPS Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System 

COASTAL Coastal Oceanographic Applications and Services for Tides and Lakes 

CoCoRaHS Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow [network] 

COLA Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies 

COMNAVMETOCCOM Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command 

CONPLAN Concept of Operations Plan 

COOP Cooperative Observer Program 

CO-OPS Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services 

COPC Committee for Operational Processing Centers 

CORMS Continuous Operational Real-time Monitoring System 

COSIM Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling Project 

COSMIC-2 Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate-2 

CPC Climate Prediction Center 

CPP Command Post Platform 

CSD [NOAA/NWS] Climate Services Division 

CSESMO Committee for Space Environmental Sensor Mitigation Options 

CVA Ceiling and Visibility, Analysis [FAA/AWRP] 

CVF Ceiling and Visibility, Forecast [FAA/AWRP] 

CWSU Center Weather Service Unit 

DAC [AOML] Data Assembly Center; Department of the Army Civilian 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-5 

DAPE Data Acquisition, Processing, and Exchange 

DASI Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator 

DATMS Defense Information Switched Network Asynchronous Transfer Mode System 

DEM digital elevation model 

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

DMCC DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council 

DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program 

DOC U.S. Department of Commerce 

DOD U.S. Department of Defense 

DOE U.S. Department of Energy 

DOI U.S. Department of the Interior 

DOMSAT domestic communication satellite 

DOS U.S. Department of State 

DOT U.S. Department of Transportation 

DOTMLPF doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, and facilities 

DPG Dugway Proving Ground 

DSCOVR Deep Space Climate Observatory 

DTC Developmental Test Center; [U.S. Army] Developmental Test Command 

DTRA Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

DTSS Digital Topographic Support System 

EAS Emergency Alert System 

EcoFOCI Ecosystem-Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations 

ECV Essential Climate Variables 

EdIWG [CCSP] Education Interagency Working Group 

ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle(s) 

EMC [NOAA/NCEP] Environmental Modeling Center 

EMI SIG Emergency Management Issues Special Interest Group 

EMSL Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory 

EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data and Information System 

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

EPI Enhanced Precipitation Identification 

ERAM En Route Automation Modernization 

ERC [hurricane] eyewall replacement cycles 

ERDC [USACE] Engineer Research and Development Center 

EROS [USGS] Earth Resources Observation and Science [center] 

ESM [DOE/OS/CESD] Earth System Models 

ESRL Earth System Research Laboratory 

ESS Environmental Sensor Station(s) 

ESTP [NASA] Earth Science Technology Program 

ET evapotranspiration 

EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites 

FAA Federal Aviation Administration 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-6 

FAR false alarm rate 

FCAMMS Fire Consortia for Advanced Modeling of Meteorology and Smoke 

FCMSSR Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research 

FEC Fire Executive Council 

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency 

FFMP Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction 

FHWA Federal Highway Administration 

FIP Forecast Icing Product 

FMF Fleet Marine Force 

FNMOC Navy Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center 

FOR Flight Operations Review 

FPAW Friends/Partners in Aviation Weather 

FRA Federal Railroad Administration 

FRD [NOAA/ARL] Field Research Division 

FSR Forest Service Research 

FTE full-time equivalent 

FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

FY fiscal year 

GACC Geographic Area Coordinating Center 

GBS Global Broadcast Service 

GCOS Global Climate Observing System 

GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems 

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory [NOAA-associated] 

GFDN Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Navy [model] 

GHCN-M Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly 

GIS geographic information system 

GLD Global Lagrangian Drifters 

GLERL Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 

GLOBE Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment 

GMD [NOAA/OAR/ESRL] Global Monitoring Division 

GODAE Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment 

GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 

GOES-R Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R 

GOOS Global Ocean Observing System 

GOSIC Global Observing Systems Information Center 

GPS Global Positioning System 

GPS-Met GPS-Meteorology 

GRA GOOS Regional Alliances 

GRIP Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes [NASA project] 

GSD [ESRL] Global Systems Division 

GTGN Graphical Turbulence Guidance Nowcast 

GTOS Global Terrestrial Observing System 

GTS Global Telecommunications System 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-7 

HALE high altitude, long-endurance [UAS] 

HAZUS Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation Methodology 

HCFC hydrochlorofluorocarbon 

HEL high-energy laser 

HELSTF High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility 

HF high frequency 

HFIP Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project 

HFPP HRD Field Program Plan 

HHWWS Heat Health Watch Warning Systems 

HMR [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] hydrometeorological report(s) 

HMT Hydrometeorological Testbed 

HPC [NPAA/NCEP] Hydrometeorological Prediction Center 

HPCMP [DOD] High Performance Computing Modernization Program 

HQDA Headquarters, Department of the Army 

HRD [NOAA/OMAO] Hurricane Research Division 

HSPD Homeland Security Presidential Directive 

HWRF Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting 

HYPOP Hybrid Coordinate Parallel Ocean Program [DOE model] 

HYSPLIT Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory [ATD model] 

IBTrACS International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship 

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization 

ICESCAPE Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment 

ICMSSR Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research 

ICOADS International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set 

IFEX Intensity Forecast Experiment 

IHC Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 

IIP International Ice Patrol 

IMAAC Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center 

IMET Incident Meteorologist 

IMETS Integrated Meteorological System 

IMPROVE Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments [program] 

INL Idaho National Laboratory 

IPAWS Integrated Public Alert and Warning System 

IPB intelligence preparation of the battlespace 

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPE intelligence preparation of the environment 

IRTSS Infrared Target Scene Simulator 

ISCS International Satellite Communications System 

ISES International Space Environment Service 

ISMS [DOE] Integrated Safety Management System 

ISR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance 

ISS International Space Station 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-8 

IT information technology 

IT R&D Information Technology Research and Development [Program] 

ITS Intelligent Transportation Systems 

ITWS Integrated Terminal Weather System 

IWEDA Integrated Weather Decision Aid 

IWGCCST Interagency Working Group on Climate Change Science and Technology 

IWRSS Integrated Water Resources Science and Services 

JAG Joint Action Group 

JAG/ADM Joint Action Group on Architecture and Data Management ( 

JAG/CCM Joint Action Group for Centralized Communications Management 

JAG/JUTB Joint Action Group for Joint Urban Test Beds 

JAG/MD Joint Action Group on Metadata 

JAG/OCM Joint Action Group for Operational Community Modeling 

JAG/ODAA Joint Action Group for Operational Data Acquisition for Assimilation 

JAWF Joint Agricultural Weather Facility 

JAWS Juneau Airport Wind System 

JCIDS Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System 

JCSDA Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation 

JHT Joint Hurricane Testbed 

JPDO Joint Planning and Development Office 

JPSS Joint Polar Satellite System 

JSC [NASA] Johnson Space Center 

JTWC Joint Typhoon Warning Center 

KDP Key Decision Point 

KSC [NASA] Kennedy Space Center 

KSCWO SOMD Weather Office at NASA Kennedy Space Center 

LAN local area network 

LAP Lightning Advisory Panel 

LBS Littoral Battlespace Sensing 

LDCM Landsat Data Continuity Mission 

LIDAR light detection and ranging 

LLCC lightning launch commit criteria 

LLWAS Low Level Wind shear Alerting System 

LLWAS-NE LLWAS Network Expansion 

LRGS [USGS] local readout ground station(s) 

M&O management and operating 

MACPEX Mid-latitude Airborne Cirrus Properties Experiment 

MADA Monsoon Area Drought Atlas 

MADIS Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System 

MAGTF Marine Air Ground Task Force 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-9 

MALE medium altitude, long endurance [UAS] 

MASPS Minimum Aviation Safety Performance Standards 

MAW Marine Aircraft Wing 

MEF Marine Expeditionary Force 

MET meteorological; Meteorology and Oceanography 

MetMF(R) Meteorological Mobile Facility-Replacement 

METOC meteorological and oceanographic 

METOP Meteorological Operational Polar 

METSAT meteorological satellite 

MM5 Mesoscale Model Version 5 

MMS-P Meteorological Measurement Set-Profiler 

MOC [NextGen] Mid-term Operational Capability 

MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer 

MOPS Minimum Operations Standards 

MOU memorandum of understanding 

MPAR multifunction phased array radar 

MPCV Multipurpose Crew Vehicle 

MRMS [FAA/AWRP] Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor [capability] 

MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center 

MST METOC Support Team 

MTOE Modified Table of Organization and Equipment 

MTSAT [Japanese] Multifunctional Transport Satellite 

MWPI Microburst Windspeed Potential Index 

MWSG Marine Wing Support Group 

MWSS Marine Wing Support Squadron 

NADM North American Drought Monitor 

NADP National Atmospheric Deposition Program 

NAO NOAA Administrative Order 

NAS National Airspace System 

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

NASS National Agricultural Statistics Service 

NAVOCEANO Naval Oceanographic Office 

NAVOCEANOPSCOM Naval Oceanography Operations Command 

NBC nuclear, biological, and chemical 

NCA National Climate Assessment 

NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research 

NCDC National Climatic Data Center 

NCEP National Centers for Environmental Prediction 

NCOM Navy Coastal Ocean Model 

NCV National Ceiling and Visibility [FAA/AWRP Product Team] 

NDBC National Data Buoy Center 

NDFD National Digital Forecast Database 

NDMC National Drought Mitigation Center 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-10 

NEB Natural Environments Branch [MSFC] 

NESDIS [NOAA] National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service 

NEXION NEXt-generation IONosonde 

NEXRAD Next-Generation Weather Radar 

NextGen Next Generation Air Transportation System 

NFDRS National Fire Danger Rating System 

NFIP National Flood Insurance Program 

NGA National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

NGDC National Geophysical Date Center 

NGEE Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments 

NHC [NCEP] National Hurricane Center 

NICC National Interagency Coordination Center 

NIDIS National Integrated Drought Information System 

NIFA National Institute for Food and Agriculture 

NIFC National Interagency Fire Center 

NITES Navy Integrated Tactical Environmental System 

NNEW NextGen Network Enabled Weathe 

NNSA National Nuclear Security Administration 

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NOCMP National Operational Coastal Modeling Program 

NODC National Oceanographic Data Center 

NOGAPS Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System 

NOHRSC National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center 

NOMADS National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System 

NOP Naval Oceanography Program 

NOPC National Operational Processing Centers Program Council 

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command 

NOS National Ocean Service 

NOWCON Network of Weather and Climate Observing Networks 

NPDIA National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and Water Data 

NPOESS National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System 

NPP NPOESS Preparatory Project 

NPRB North Pacific Research Board 

NPS National Park Service 

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission; National Research Council 

NRCC [FEMA] National Response Coordination Center 

NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service 

NRL Naval Research Laboratory 

NRL/MRY Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory [NRL Monterey] 

NSF National Science Foundation 

NSIP National Streamflow Information Program 

NSIR Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 

NSPD National Security Presidential Directive 

NSSL [NOAA] National Severe Storm Laboratory 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-11 

NSWP National Space Weather Program 

NSWRC NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability 

NTAS Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station 

NTHMP National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program 

NUOPC National Unified Operational Prediction Capability 

NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group 

NWIS National Water Information System 

NWLON National Water Level Observation Network 

NWP numerical weather prediction 

NWR NOAA Weather Radio 

NWRT National Weather Radar Testbed 

NWS [NOAA] National Weather Service 

OAR [NOAA] Office of Atmospheric Research 

OCE (USDA) Office of the Chief Economist 

ODCS [U.S. Army] Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff 

OEP Operational Evolution Partnership [FAA airport designation] 

OFCM Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research 

OGC Open Geospatial Consortium 

OMAO [NOAA] Office of Marine and Aviation Operations 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

ONR Office of Naval Research 

OPC Ocean Prediction Center 

OSSE observing system simulation experiment 

OSTEP Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program 

OSTM Ocean Surface Topography Mission 

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy 

OTN [Defense Information Systems Agency] Optical Transport Network 

OTSR Optimum Track Ship Routing 

OWS [USAF] Operational Weather Squadron 

P3I Pre-Planned Product Improvement 

PACAF Pacific Air Forces 

PARISE Phased Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiment 

PCMDI Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison 

PLAN Personal Localized Alert Network 

PMEL Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 

PNE PIRATA Northeast Extension [project] 

POD probability of detection 

POES Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite 

POP Parallel Ocean Program [DOE/OS/CESD model] 

POPS Primary Oceanographic Prediction System 

PORTS® Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System 

PREDICT Pre-Depression Investigation of Cloud-systems in the Tropics 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-12 

PSD [ESRL] Physical Sciences Division 

PTWC Pacific Tsunami Warning Center 

QPE quantitative precipitation estimation(s) 

QPF quantitative precipitation forecast 

R&D research and development 

R2O Research to Operations 

RASCAL Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis 

RAWS Remote Automated Weather Stations (network) 

RBSP Ring Current, Radiation Belts, Solar Particles [satellite] 

RDT&E research development, test, and evaluation 

RES Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research 

RFC [NWS] River Forecast Center 

RGCM Regional and Global Climate Modeling [in DOE/OS/CESD] 

RIMS Radio Interference Measuring Set 

ROMANS Rocky Mountain Atmospheric Nitrogen and Sulfur 

ROSES [NASA] Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 

RPA Remotely Piloted Aircraft 

RSMC Regional Specialized Meteorological Center 

RSTN Radio Solar Telescope Network 

RTC Redstone Test Center 

RTS Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site 

RTVS Real-Time Verification System 

RUC Rapid Update Cycle [NWS forecast model] 

RVR Runway Visual Range 

RWI Reduce Weather Impact 

RWMP Road Weather Management Program 

SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users 

SAS [NextGen] Single Authoritative Source 

SAWS Stand Alone Weather Sensors [FAA] 

SCAN Soil Climate Analysis Network 

SCAP Security Certification and Accreditation Package 

SCAPA Subcommittee for Consequence Assessment and Protective Actions 

SDO Solar Dynamics Observatory 

SDR [CENRS] Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction 

SEBN Surface Energy Budget Network 

SEES Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability 

SEON Solar Electro-optical Observing Network 

SERVIR Sistema Regional de Visualizacion y Monitoreo [NASA network] 

SESAR Single European Sky ATM Research 

SFMR stepped frequency microwave radiometer 

SGOT Strike Group Oceanography Team 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-13 

SICPS Standard Integrated Command Post Shelter 

SIP Societal Impacts Program 

SIR System Integration Review 

SLEP Service Life Extension Program 

SLOSH Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes [storm surge model] 

SMAP [NASA] Soil Moisture Active-Passive [Satellite Mission] 

SMD [NASA] Science Mission Directorate 

SMDC [U.S. Army] Space and Missile Defense Command 

SMG [NWS] Spaceflight Meteorology Group 

SNOTEL SNOw pack TELemetry 

SOF Special Operations Forces 

SOHO Solar and Heliospheric Observatory 

SOMD [NASA] Space Operations Mission Directorate 

SOON Solar Observing Optical Network 

SOOP Ship of Opportunity Program 

SORD [NOAA/ARL] Special Operations and Research Division 

SPC [NCEP] Storm Prediction Center 

SRS Solar Radio Spectrograph 

SST sea surface temperature 

SSWSF Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program 

STAR Center for Satellite Applications and Research 

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

STEREO Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory 

STIWG Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group 

SWEF Space Weather Enterprise Forum 

SWIM [NextGen] System Wide Information Management 

SWPC Space Weather Prediction Center 

SWSI State Surface Water Supply Index(es) 

TAF Terminal Aerodrome Forecast 

TAO Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean [Project] 

TAO/TRITON Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean/TRIangle Trans-Ocean buoy Network 

TAWS Target Acquisition Weapons Software 

TDA Tactical Decision Aid 

TDWR Terminal Doppler Weather Radar 

TFCC Task Force Climate Change 

T-IWEDA Tri-Service Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid 

TMC traffic management center 

TOC Tactical Operations Center 

TOE Table of Organization and Equipment 

TRADOC U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command 

TRMM Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission 

TSG thermosalinograph 

TSO Technical Standard Order [FAA] 
Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-14 

UAS unmanned aircraft systems; unmanned aerial systems 

UHF ultrahigh frequency 

UNEP United Nations Environment Program 

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 

UNOLS University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System 

UNSWC Unified National Space Weather Capability 

URI University of Rhode Island 

USA U.S. Army 

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

USAF U.S. Air Force 

USAICoE U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence 

USARNORTH U. S. Army North 

USASMDC U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command 

USCG U.S. Coast Guard 

USCRN U.S. Climate Reference Network 

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture 

USDM U.S. Drought Monitor 

USFF U.S. Fleet Forces Command 

USFS U.S. Forest Service 

USGCRP U.S. Global Change Research Program 

USGS U.S. Geological Survey 

USHCN U.S. Historical Climatology Network 

USNO U.S. Naval Observatory 

USNORTHCOM U.S. Northern Command 

USWRP U.S. Weather Research Program 

UV ultraviolet 

VAAC Volcanic Ash Advisory Center 

VAFB Vandenberg Air Force Base 

VFR visual flight rules 

VORTEX2 Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment 2 

VOS Volunteer Observing System 

WAFS World Area Forecast System 

WAMIS World AgroMeteorological Information Service 

WAOB World Agricultural Outlook Board 

WARP Weather And Radar Processor [FAA] 

WASDE World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates [report] 

WC/ATWC West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center 

WEBB Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets 

WFDSS Wildland Fire Decision Support System 

WFIP Wind Forecast Improvement Project 

WFO National Weather Service Forecast Office 
 Appendix B. Acronyms 

 A-15 

WG/DIAP Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water Data ( 

WG/TBC Working Group for Test Bed Coordination 

WG/UM Working Group for Urban Meteorology 

WG/VA Working Group on Volcanic Ash 

WG/WIST Working Group on Weather Information for Surface Transportation 

WGA Western Governors’ Association 

WHDE Wind Hazard Detection Equipment 

WIFS WAFS Internet File Service 

WIMS weather information management system 

WIS WMO Information Service 

WMO World Meteorological Organization 

WoF Warn on Forecast [Program] 

WP Work Product 

WRAP Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership 

WRD [USGS] Water Resources Discipline 

WRE-N Weather Running Estimate-Nowcasts 

WRF Weather Research and Forecasting 

WRTM Weather-Responsive Traffic Management 

WS [USAF] Weather Squadron 

WSDS Wind Shear Detection Services 

WSP [FAA] Weather Systems Processor 

WSR-88D Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler 

WTIC Weather Technology in the Cockpit 

WUI Wildland-Urban Interface 

WW3 Wave Watch III [model] 

WWCB Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin 

WWLLN World Wide Lightning Locator Network 

WXG [USAF] Weather Group 

XBT Expendable BathyThermograph [Program]